El Paso residents tell Trump to stay away after shooting
US President Donald Trump is to visit the predominantly Hispanic city of El Paso, Texas, amid warnings that he should refrain from visiting the grieving city, where a racially motivated gunman killed 22 people there on Saturday.
Trump, whose rhetoric about an immigrant “invasion” has alienated many residents in El Paso, will visit the border town on Wednesday. The president in January called it one of America’s “most dangerous cities” before a wall was built.
The 21-year-old suspected gunman, who is white, reportedly posted an online manifesto railing against a "Hispanic invasion of Texas." Activists who gathered for a vigil for the victims on Monday placed some of the blame for the bloodshed on Trump.
“He’s complicit in this violence and all the terror that we’re seeing,” said Rachel Cheek, 26.
The White House on Tuesday confirmed Trump would visit El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, where nine people were killed in another shooting early on Sunday.
In a speech on Monday, Trump urged Americans to condemn bigotry but community leaders say the president is insincere, citing his longstanding refusal to call out white supremacy and a history of provocative tweets widely condemned as racist.
Critics say the gunman’s manifesto echoed much of Trump's rhetoric on Twitter and at rallies, where he has frequently framed Hispanic migrants as part of an "invasion."
Trump has also characterized immigrants from Mexico and Central America as criminals, gang members and rapists and described the communities of African American lawmakers on several occasions as "infested" with crime and filth.
US Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who represents El Paso, said Monday that Trump was "not welcome" in her city because of his provocative rhetoric.
"Words have consequences. The president has made my community and my people the enemy," Escobar said during an interview with MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
The lawmaker said that Hispanic people "have been dehumanized by the president and his enablers" and that this was "one of the lowest points in American history."
Violence committed by white men inspired by an extremist ideology makes up a growing number of domestic terrorism cases, according to a recent report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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