EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — The president of the nation’s largest Hispanic organization accused President Donald Trump of inspiring radical hatred and said the president bears partial blame for Saturday’s mass shooting in El Paso.
“His manifesto shows that (accused shooter Patrick Crusius) said it was the ‘invasion of Texas by Hispanics’ that was the motivation for him to drive 10 hours from Allen, Texas, to target innocent women and children here,” said Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). “That inspiration comes from the White House. The blood lies on the hands of President Trump and the administration for saying things like ‘we’re going to build a wall,’ ‘that’s a place infested with vermin,’ ‘they’re all rapists and murderers.'”
Garcia said Trump is creating a toxic political atmosphere that inspires mentally unstable people to engage in “the type of heinous crimes” like Saturday’s massacre at the Walmart in East El Paso.
Garcia spoke Sunday at a news conference in front of the Federal Courthouse in El Paso. When asked what the wanted the President to do, Garcia said he wants him to stop dividing Americans.
“I want him to stop the inflammatory speech, to unite instead of divide. We are hopeful that, as this presidential campaign goes on, we’re able to separate the politics from the hate speech playing on bigotry and prejudice of the lowest possible denominator,” Garcia said.
Garcia said LULAC has requested a meeting with Trump this month to discuss immigration. “We should not be using the Hispanic community as a political piñata. We are waiting for the appointment to discuss ways to solve the immigration issue and for him to lower the rhetoric.”
Garcia, a Dallas lawyer, was joined at the event by local LULAC officials and activists who carried signs and held hands as a show of solidarity for the victims of the shooting.