(LOS ANGELES) – Please attribute the statement below marking the fifth anniversary of the mass shooting in El Paso to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund).
The shooting, carried out by a Texas white nationalist, left 23 dead and many others injured, making it the deadliest hate-motivated attack on the Latino community in history.
“After five years, the repercussions of the deadliest anti-Latino hate crime in our nation's history remain grievously present. Too many Latino family members continue to bear the traumatic harms of violent and irrational racism. And the larger Latino community continues to witness the proliferation of the dangerous impacts of dehumanizing rhetoric and uncontrolled access to murderous weaponry.
“In particular, the irresponsible use of military terms like ‘invasion' by elected leaders and candidates for high office, to describe peaceful migration, can only lead to increased hate crime and racist attack. It is abundantly obvious that the false use of ‘invasion' terminology is a grave domestic threat to public safety and national security.
“This poignant anniversary reminds us of the national imperative to stop the flow of guns and the flood of implicitly violent and racist rhetoric.”