Prosecutor cites anti-immigrant rhetoric as El Paso shooter is sentenced to 23 life terms

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The grinding path to justice for the most lethal mass shooter to ever appear in a U.S. courtroom came to an end Monday when Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty to murdering 23 people and wounding 22 others in an anti-Hispanic assault on an El Paso Walmart in 2019.

“The community you tried to break has become a symbol of resilience, of love overcoming hate, of humanity enduring in the face of evil,” 409th District Judge Sam Medrano said to Crusius after sentencing him to 23 life terms in prison. “This community will always remember those whose lives you stole – their names, their stories, their accomplishments. Their light will never fade. While you, your name and your hate, will be forgotten.”

Crusius was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for capital murder, and life in prison for each of 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The capital murder and aggravated assault sentences will be served concurrently, meaning at the same time.

While the hearing was focused on a horrific hate crime from 5 1⁄2 years ago, both the prosecution and defense spoke of anti-immigrant rhetoric that lit the fuse for Crusius’ explosion and continues to animate political and media conversations.

“While Patrick claimed in his manifesto that his views predated the then-President (Donald Trump) and that political figures were not to blame, he also explicitly stated the attack was a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas, echoing the language used by political figures,” defense attorney Joe Spencer told the court. “Indeed, Patrick 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.”

Spencer had first spoken of the influence of Trump’s rhetoric in a March interview with El Paso Matters. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment at that time, and hasn’t responded to a request for comment about statements in court on Monday.

District Attorney James Montoya also cited anti-immigrant rhetoric in his remarks to the court. But he urged the community to focus on those whose lives were torn about by the 2019 attack.

“There’s a lot to say about the defendant and the hateful ideology that motivated him, and that there are other public figures and elected officials that espouse and promote this ideology,” he said. “But my sincere hope is that for the rest of this proceeding, this afternoon in the next few days and moving forward, that the focus can remain on the 23 lives that were taken from us far too soon.”

Montoya also took the unusual step of criticizing actions taken by his predecessor, Yvonne Rosales, and her associates. Rosales resigned in 2022 while facing a legal proceeding to remove her from office.

“I also wanted to take a moment, your Honor, on behalf of the state of Texas, to apologize to the community, and the court, and specifically the family of Gerhardt Alexander Hoffmann for the gross and abominable misconduct by one of my predecessors and her representatives, acting as representatives of the state of Texas, and their manipulation and terrorizing and frankly the revictimization of Mr. Hoffmann’s family during the pendency of these proceedings,” Montoya said.

El Paso Matters could not reach Rosales for comment.

An investigation ordered by Medrano found that then-Assistant District Attorney Curtis Cox and Roger Rodriguez, a private attorney working for Rosales, had retaliated against the family of Hoffmann, a Ciudad Juárez man killed in the attack, because they refused to participate in an effort to attack Medrano and a former prosecutor in the case.

Hoffmann’s son Thomas was at the hearing, but his widow, Rosa Maria Valdez Garcia, was not present.

The hearing

Crusius — in an orange and white jail jumpsuit and shackled — said little during the hearing other than pleading guilty and providing brief answers to Medrano’s questions about whether his guilty plea was voluntary and that he understood his rights.

During the hearing, Montoya read the names of each of the 23 people killed in the attack, as well as the 22 wounded.

The hearing was conducted amid intense security, both inside and outside the county courthouse. People attending the hearing had to go through multiple security screenings before being allowed in the courtroom.

Montoya decided last month to no longer pursue the death penalty, leading to the guilty plea.

While state and federal prosecutions of cases are now complete, the survivors of the mass shooting, and the families who lost loved ones face lives that have been horrifically altered.

More than 100 family members of those slain by Crusius were in the makeshift courtroom set up in the county commissioners’ meeting space to accommodate a large crowd.

A community shattered and healing

El Paso itself — selected by a man who lived 600 miles away to be the target of the deadliest act of anti-Hispanic violence in modern history — continues to heal. That path to healing has been complicated by political changes that have seen the gunman’s rhetoric of an “invasion” of Hispanic immigrants as part of a “great replacement” move from the darkest corners of the internet to mainstream political and media conversation.

“On August 3rd 2019, Patrick Crusius afflicted a wound on our community that may never fully heal. He brought violence and terror to a place of peace, shattering lives and forever changing the landscape of El Paso,” defense attorney Spencer said. “To everyone who lost loved ones, to those who were injured, to everyone who’s sense of safety was violated, we offer our deepest, most sincere condolences.”

Looking directly at Crusius, Medrano said: “Now, as you begin the rest of your life locked away, remember this: Your mission failed. You did not divide this city, you strengthened it. You did not silence its voice, you made it louder. You did not instill fear, you inspired unity. El Paso rose stronger and braver. The community you tried to break has become a symbol of resilience, of love overcoming hate, of humanity enduring in the face of evil.”

The Aug. 3, 2019, attack on the Cielo Vista Walmart killed 23 people, the sixth-deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The gunmen in the five more lethal killings — in Las Vegas; Orlando, Florida; Blacksburg, Virginia; Newtown, Connecticut; and Sutherland Springs, Texas — took their own lives or were killed by law enforcement.

Crusius, who was from Allen, a Dallas suburb, is the deadliest U.S. mass shooter to have to answer for his crimes in a courtroom.

Shortly before his attack, he posted what he called a “manifesto” on a website frequented by white nationalists that outlined his racist motivations.

In his statement to the court Monday, Spencer said his client had a long history of mental illness and had become radicalized by reading white nationalist websites on platforms like 4Chan and 8Chan. He has made similar statements at his client’s federal sentencing and in media interviews.

“This explanation of a severe mental illness and toxic political environment does not, in any way, justify or excuse the horrific violence that Patrick committed. He bears responsibility for the choices he made and the devastation that he caused,” he said.

In addition to his guilty pleas to state charges of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, he also pleaded guilty in 2023 to federal hate crimes and weapons charges and was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms in federal prison. Federal prosecutors also opted not to seek the death penalty against Crusius.

Crusius likely will head to the Texas state prison system to serve his sentences, spokespeople for the federal and state prison systems told El Paso Matters.

People whose lives were upended by Crusius will face him as they deliver victim impact statements starting Monday afternoon. More than 40 victims have asked to give statements, the District Attorney’s Office said. Medrano has said he will allow victims to speak as long as they want, and will continue the hearing throughout the week if necessary to allow everyone to speak.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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