Biden, Harris send condolences as El Paso remembers victims of mass shooting

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The El Paso community is coming together on Saturday to remember the victims of the Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting at a local Walmart.

Memorial events are scheduled at Jim Crouch Park, Ponder Park, the Healing Garden at El Paso County’s Ascarate Park and other venues.

The commemoration five years after a gunman drove 10 hours from the Dallas area to “kill Mexicans” comes as Latino activists warn the fringe hate speech that motivated the attack still lurks and prominent figures send their condolences. Twenty-three died – most of them U.S. citizens – and 22 were injured.

In letters dated Aug. 3, 2024, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris send their condolences and commend the people of El Paso for their resilience.

“I know the profound heartache felt in your city was shared by many,” Biden writes. “I know how hard these days can be. Even after years have passed, milestones like these can bring you back to how you felt in the moment you lived your worst nightmares. While no words will fill the emptiness you feel, I want you to know you remain in my prayers.”

Harris nods to El Pasoans for quickly coming together: Donating blood, helping neighbors and standing firm after the attack.

“El Paso, you have shown incredible resilience and strength after suffering unimaginable pain. Please know that you are not alone. Our entire nation is with you today and always,” Harris writes.

The City of El Paso and County government officials will be focusing on honoring the victims and healing the community.

The city is unveiling a granite public art memorial by artist Tino Ortega at 9:30 a.m. at Jim Crouch Park just north of the Walmart near Cielo Vista Mall where five years ago ambulances came and went, and surviving customers and employees tried to cope with the horror unleashed by a gunman who drove 10 hours from the Dallas area after posting an online manifesto bemoaning the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

A federal judge last year sentenced Patrick Wood Crusius to spend the rest of his life in prison after he pleaded guilty to 90 federal charges related to hate crimes.

“The conditions that led to the terrorist, racist attack at Walmart that took the lives of 23 members of our community are still prevalent today, even more so than five years ago,” said Fernando Garcia, executive director of Border Network for Human Rights. “We must continue to denounce and remind ourselves that what occurred on August 3rd, 2019, was not a circumstantial event; it was the result of systemic problems in our nation, called white supremacy, hate, and xenophobia.”

The Border Network for Human Rights and other community groups plan a procession with large crosses to honor the victims at 9:30 at Edgemere Linear Park.

Later Saturday, El Paso County officials will be unveiling a mural and reading the names of the victims at the County Healing Garden in Ascarate Park. Almost simultaneously The El Paso Chamber will be flashing the lightbulbs that comprise the Star on the Mountain on the eastern slopes of the Franklin Mountains 23 times. The star is being lighted orange – a color associated with gun violence awareness.

Multiple other memorial events will be taking place throughout Saturday and have already happened in the days leading up to August 3.

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