Marchers in Texas decry racism, call for tougher gun laws
EL PASO, Texas — More than 100 people marched through the Texas border city of El Paso on Saturday, denouncing racism and demanding stronger gun laws one week after 22 people were killed in a mass shooting that authorities say was carried out by a man targeting Mexicans.
Chanting “gun reform now,” “ El Paso strong” and “aqui estamos y no nos vamos” — Spanish for “here we are and we are not leaving” — the marchers included Latino, white and black people dressed in white to symbolize peace and carrying 22 white crosses to represent the victims of the shooting at an El Paso Walmart.
The man charged with capital murder in the attack, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, told investigators he targeted Mexicans at the store with an AK-47 rifle, an El Paso detective said in an arrest affidavit. Federal prosecutors have said they’re weighing hate-crime charges.
Jessica Coca Garcia, who was among those wounded in the shooting, spoke to those gathered at the League of United Latin American Citizens’ March for a United America.
“Racism is something I always wanted to think didn’t exist. Obviously, it does,” Coca Garcia said after rising from a wheelchair. Bandages covered gunshot wounds to her leg.
“I love you, El Paso,” she said, her voice cracking. “This is where I’m going to stay.”
As the marchers rallied in El Paso, families held funerals Saturday for victims of the attack there and in Dayton, Ohio. Less than 24 hours after the El Paso shootings, another gunman killed nine people in a popular Dayton nightlife area.
A man who died in the arms of his son in the Ohio shooting was remembered Saturday as a loving family man who painted houses and loved to fish and cook. Hundreds of mourners, including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Dayton Mayor Nan...