My beloved city of El Paso came under brutal attack Saturday. Needless to say, my family and I are in shock. We are dismayed. We are saddened. We are angry. The casualties number 22 dead and 26 wounded. Among the dead and wounded were children.But this violent attack didn't come from south of the border the way many unschooled, xenophobic Americans and fear-mongering politicians always warned us about. It did not come from any perceived horde of invading immigrants.
It came from inside our own country.
I know it is a worn out cliche, but El Pasoans never thought this kind of atrocity would ever occur here. By gosh, we are a remarkably peaceful and friendly city that has always embraced its diversity. Our neighborhoods are filled with people of all backgrounds, cultures, races and ethnicities who live in total harmony. Our city has been declared many times to be among the safest cities in the country. This cannot happen here, we thought.
The reason we are so deeply and emotionally impacted by this senseless act is that it happened in our neighborhood. Cielo Vista and the adjacent Walmart store are located mere blocks from our house. From our driveway, it takes only 4-minutes to get there. The Walmart store is the same one we have been using for our major household and grocery purchases for nearly 40-years.
The gunman was reported to be a 21-year old white nationalist who drove 600-miles to El Paso from Allen, Texas near Dallas with the sole intention of murdering Hispanic people. Clearly, this guy's hatred of brown people was inspired by the current wave of anti-immigrant sentiment propagated in large measure by the leader of our country and his political party. The images of white nationalists and KKK-members taunting black, brown and Asian citizens are horrifying and have become a part of the American landscape.
But those kinds of things have never infected our community. The only hate group associated with El Paso has been run by a largely-ignored phony Christian preacher named Tom Brown whose local "church" is a cesspool of LGBTQ hatred in our community.
It is also a favorite shopping area for the thousands of Mennonite families in northern Chihuahua who come into El Paso daily to purchase everything from clothes to farming equipment and supplies.
El Paso has always welcomed its friends from Mexico. Their pesos and dollars have always been a major contributor to El Paso's overall economy. In fact, the only reason the Sears store inside the mall was not closed during the company's latest round of store closures is because of the huge presence of Mexican shoppers.
I cannot fathom what would motivate anyone to kill innocent people in this most brutal and cowardly way. But the constant stream of hate-filled rhetoric coming from many segments of our society is frightening and getting worse. America has come under siege by a small but violent group of armed white nationalists hell-bent on spreading their hatred and fear.
I always hoped we would never see an atrocity like this in my city. But it happened. I am now convinced that no community anywhere is immune from the hate and violence that is infecting America. The ugliness and brutality of domestic terrorism has shattered the peace and tranquility of my community.
And it will happen again. Somewhere. Sometime.
Lord help us all.
Roy Ortega may be reached at rortega54@elp.rr.com
