Face of Nation : When an outsider came to El Paso and shattered the sense of security Joel Martinez had always felt in his hometown, he grabbed his family and huddled in a closet.
Their home is down the street from the Walmart where 20 people were killed and 26 wounded by a gunman who walked in Saturday during back-to-school shopping time and opened fire. Text messages and news reports flooded Martinez’s cellphone. Soon, the shutters in their home began shaking as police and news helicopters whirled overhead. Martinez feared he and his wife Zylene, 32, and their boys Jovani, 4, and Mikey, 7, were in danger. “We’ve lived here all our lives and for the first time, I felt — get in the closets,” said Martinez, 32. “I started preparing. I was in the military so it was, start getting ready, anxiety, turn the TV down.”
On Sunday, as law enforcement officials continued the grim task of identifying victims, residents of El Paso and Juarez, its sister city across the U.S.-Mexico border, tried to take stock of how they went from the center of President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration stance and anti-Latino rhetoric to being the target of a mass shooter.
Robert Chavez, 65, an El Paso native retired from Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a 27-year career, shopped Sunday at another Walmart not far from the shooting scene. He was apprehensive and alert for threats. “What did he come over here for? I guess he had to come somewhere where there’s more Latinos,” Chavez said about the gunman. “He shouldn’t have made a trip anywhere.”
“This vile act of terrorism against Hispanic Americans was inspired by divisive racial and ethnic rhetoric and enabled by weapons of war,” Castro said. “Hispanic Americans and immigrants have been directly and violently attacked. This crime was intentional violence to strike fear in our communities, for our lives and for our families.”
Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, told National Public Radio that the mass shootings the nation has seen are not just “an epidemic of guns,” but also, “an epidemic of hate” and residents of the city and county that are about 83 percent Latino did feel targeted. Julián Castro, the only Latino candidate in the presidential race, said Trump’s rhetoric has contributed to the “toxic brew of the white nationalism” in America.
George P. Bush, Texas land commissioner and the son of Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida and 2016 presidential candidate, has not been openly critical of Trump, but he said on Twitter that “fighting terrorism remains a national priority.” “And that should include standing firm against white terrorism here in the U.S.,” said Bush, who noted he served in Afghanistan as a naval officer.
