The man who fatally shot 23 people and wounded 22 others at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 believed he was acting at the direction of President Trump, his defense lawyer said, the Trace reports, with El Paso Matters. “He thought he had to stop the invasion because that’s what his president was telling him, which is just not rational,” defense attorney Joe Spencer said in his first extended interview about the mass shooting that the shooter said was meant to stop “the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” “He thought, if he doesn’t do it, then nobody’s going to do it,” Spencer said. “He’s got to start.” On August 5, 2019, two days after the El Paso shooting, Trump condemned the attack and the motives behind it: “The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online consumed by racist hate. In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America.” Trump visited El Paso on August 7, ignoring pleas from much of El Paso’s elected leadership that he stay away because they felt his rhetoric may have played a role in the shooting.
Although Trump critics said his constant anti-immigration rhetoric played a role in the El Paso shooting — an accusation Trump supporters have denied — the shooter and his defense team have not previously addressed whether Trump’s words played a role in motivating him. The shooter, now 26, is expected to plead guilty April 21 to state charges of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. District Attorney James Montoya announced on March 25 that state prosecutors would no longer seek the death penalty, meaning the shooter will be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. He was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms in 2023 after pleading guilty to federal weapons and hate crime charges. Spencer has not made extensive comments on the case outside of court, in part because of directives by federal and state judges. He agreed to an interview after Judge Sam Medrano dissolved a 2022 gag order.