Feds won’t seek death penalty in racist El Paso attack

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By Jake Bleiberg and Michael Tarm | Associated press

Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for a man accused of fatally shooting nearly two dozen people in a 2019 racist attack at a West Texas Walmart.

The US Department of Justice revealed the decision not to pursue capital punishment against Patrick Crusius in a one-sentence notice filed in federal court in El Paso on Tuesday. Crusius, 24, is accused of targeting Mexicans in the August 3 massacre that left dozens injured and killed 23 people. The Dallas-area native is charged with federal hate crimes and firearms violations, as well as capital murder in state court, and has pleaded not guilty.

Federal prosecutors did not explain in their court filing why they would not seek the death penalty for Crusius, although he could still be executed if found guilty in state court.

The decision not to pursue the death penalty in Crusius’s case could be a watershed moment for the Justice Department, which has sent mixed signals about the policies regarding the federal death penalty that President Joe Biden has pledged to abolish during his presidential campaign. Biden is the first president to openly oppose the death penalty and his election raised hopes among abolition supporters, who have since been frustrated by a lack of clarity on how the administration might end federal executions or if that’s the goal.

The decision comes weeks after Jaime Esparza, the former El Paso district attorney, took over as U.S. attorney for West Texas. Esparza said when he was district attorney that he would pursue the death penalty in Crusius’s case. A spokesperson for Esparza’s office referred questions to the Justice Department in Washington, DC, where another spokesperson declined to comment.

Crusius turned himself in to police after the attack, saying, “I’m the shooter,” and that he was targeting Mexicans, according to an arrest warrant. Prosecutors said he posted a screed online shortly before the shooting that said it was “in response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

Cruisus’ attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment. His case is due in federal court in January 2024.

Although federal and state cases progressed in parallel, it is unclear when Crusius might stand trial on charges against the state.

The district attorney who was leading the state’s case, Yvonne Rosales, resigned in November over charges of incompetence involving hundreds of cases in El Paso and slowing the case against Crusius. Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed a new district attorney last month to “restore confidence” in the local criminal justice system.

Federal prosecutors are still pursuing the death penalty in the case against Sayfullo Saipov, who is accused of using a truck in 2017 to mow down pedestrians and cyclists on a bike path by the Hudson River. The trial for the federal capital of Saipov began last week.

The decision to seek death in Saipov’s case was made by Trump, who in his last six months in office oversaw a historic string of 13 federal executions. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a moratorium on federal executions in 2021, but he allowed U.S. prosecutors to continue seeking the death penalty against Saipov while the department reviews Trump-era death penalty proceedings.

Tarm reported from Chicago. Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston contributed.

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