Emboldened by the hate-filled rhetoric from the highest office in the land, the shooter decided El Paso was a good start

As the shock of the El Paso massacre still weighs heavily on all, I am compelled to offer a few thoughts at the sheer mindlessness of this act and the motive of another mass murderer armed with an AK-47.

I propose the U.S. Flag stay lowered until Congress comes to its senses and immediately passes strict gun legislation.

All the shooter knew of his targeted victims was that they were dark-skinned Mexicans that deserved to die while shopping at a tax-free weekend at a Wal-Mart on the border. Emboldened by the hate-filled rhetoric emanating from the highest office in the land, he decided that El Paso was a good start. He slaughtered and maimed over 45 human beings with a weapon of mass destruction that spineless politicians refuse to ban forever. He used a high capacity magazine that was able to spit out hundreds of rounds without re-loading because of sacred Second Amendment rights passed in 1791.

I ask the cowardly politicians in Austin and Washington not to insult the mentally ill in our country by alleging he must have been out of his mind. I would ask his attorney not to use the insanity defense. He told the world of his despicable plan beforehand and calmly carried it out.

After the carnage, he dropped his weapon and told the cops, “I’m the shooter.”  My ancestors have been in this area over 300 years. Spanish has been spoken here longer than this nation has existed. I have news for this assassin: We are not going anywhere. I do not wish the death penalty, which I have always opposed, on this killer for his racist crime. I want him to live to a ripe old age in prison to see mi raza become the majority in Texas. I want him prosecuted by a Hispanic prosecutor and judge. His unspeakable massacre extinguished the lives of children, and the elderly, who had no way to defend themselves.

Their dreams and aspirations will never be obtained, because they were never given a chance. The killer put them in an early grave and left wives, husbands, children. and grandchildren to mourn and ask why. No one will ever know that the innocent people he chose to slaughter may have included future astronauts, scientists, musicians, poets, Medal of Honor winners, actors, movie directors, Supreme Court justices, federal judges, or professional boxers.

You probably have never heard about Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina Astronaut in space; Anthony Romero, the head of the American Civil Liberties Union; Joaquin and Julian Castro, raised by a single mother, Harvard graduates, and presidential candidate and Congressman. Two Generals from Texas, Richard Cavazos and Ricardo Sanchez. The first Latino Medal of Honor winner at Gettysburg, J. De Castro. Laredoan civil rights attorney, Gus Garcia, who argued in 1954 at the Supreme Court that Latinos were not a class apart. There have been 61 Latino Medal of Honor recipients including Laredoan David Barkley. Latinos have never backed down from a fight, but you decided to slaughter a group of people because you thought the U.S. was being invaded by Hispanics. You will have plenty of time to study U.S. history in the next several years. You will understand that your ancestors were the invaders since the early 1800’s.

All of these unfortunate souls were not guilty of anything but the crime of being Latino.

Dwell on that for the next 40 or 50 years.

In Liberty,
David Almaraz