President Biden met Tuesday with Hispanic community leaders to honor the 23 victims who were killed when a gunman targeted Hispanic people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, two years ago.
“These anniversaries should be celebrated in the sense that recognizing so things don’t happen again,” Mr. Biden told reporters after the meeting. “They are terrible for the victims and the survivors. I know how hard these anniversaries are.”
Vice President Kamala Harris also attended the meeting, with other White House officials and leaders from a dozen Hispanic organizations including UnidosUS, the Hispanic Federation and the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The president reiterated the need to stay united against “domestic terrorism rooted in White supremacy.” He also called on Congress to tighten gun safety laws, including a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
The meeting included various White House officials and leaders from a dozen Hispanic organizations, including UnidosUS, the Hispanic Federation, and the League of United Latin American Citizens.
In an op-ed published Tuesday in the El Paso Times, Mr. Biden discussed his national strategy for countering domestic terrorism “by taking action to reduce online radicalization and recruitment to violence.”
“We’re also disrupting the networks that inspire such violence by domestic terrorists and hate groups and providing resources to communities to build resilience,” the president wrote.
Janet Murguía, president and CEO of UnidosUS, said she appreciates the president’s promise to crack down on anti-Hispanic content permeating social media platforms.
“Not only is he committed to rooting out the sources of disinformation that cause the exploitation and targeting of Latinos in this country, but also the roots of that being tied to White supremacy and domestic terrorism,” Ms. Murguía told reporters.
On Tuesday night, officials in El Paso and the victims’ family members are set to gather at Ascarate Park for the dedication of a healing garden to memorialize the victims. The event is closed to the public, but it will be livestreamed on the El Paso County government’s Youtube channel.
The garden includes 23 trees to honor each victim and is meant to serve as a place for people to quietly reflect on the tragedy, according to county Judge Ricardo Samaniego.
“This is a place for healing, a place to reflect, a place to really encourage others to do the right thing,” Mr. Samaniego told KFOX14-TV in July.
Authorities say gunman Patrick Crusius confessed to traveling more than 600 miles from his home near Dallas to the border city of El Paso to target Mexicans at a Walmart on Aug. 3, 2019.
Moments before the El Paso attack, authorities say the shooter posted a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto online decrying the “Hispanic invasion of Texas” and the need to divide the country into race-based regions.
The gunman’s attorneys say he has severe “mental disabilities” and has pleaded not guilty to a state capital murder charge, as well as federal hate crime and gun law violations.
As of July 28, the total number of mass shootings nationwide this year is nearly 20% higher (393) than the same time last year (329), according to the Gun Violence Archive.
• Jeff Mordock contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.
• Emily Zantow can be reached at ezantow@washingtontimes.com.
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