Patrick Crusius kills 23 people at El Paso Walmart Manifesto echoes Trump Hispanic invasion

On August 3, 2019, Patrick Crusius, 21, opens fire at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, killing 23 people and injuring 22 others in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. Twenty of the 23 killed are Hispanic. Before the attack, Crusius posts a four-page manifesto titled "The Inconvenient Truth" on 8chan. The manifesto describes the attack as a response to "the Hispanic invasion of Texas" — the same phrase Trump had used at a May 2019 Florida rally and in dozens of other speeches and social media posts. In 2025, Crusius's defense attorney tells Congress that Crusius "believed he was acting in the direction of the president at the time, seeing it as his duty to stop the invasion because that's what he believed the president was telling him." The manifesto states Crusius's views predated Trump. On April 21, 2025, Crusius pleads guilty in Texas state court and is sentenced to 23 consecutive life terms. Federal prosecutors note his anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant motivation.