Donald Trump sent his prayers to those in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio after both cities experienced mass shootings this weekend.
‘God bless the people of El Paso Texas. God bless the people of Dayton, Ohio,’ Trump tweeted Sunday morning.
The White House said Trump was being updated on the shootings, and the president lauded the response of state law enforcement in Texas and Ohio, claiming more updates would be given throughout the day.
‘The FBI, local and state law enforcement are working together in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio. Information is rapidly being accumulated in Dayton. Much has already be learned in El Paso. Law enforcement was very rapid in both instances,’ he tweeted hours after the second mass shooting of the weekend occurred. ‘Updates will be given throughout the day!’
Donald Trump praised law enforcement for their swift responses to two separate mass shootings this weekend. ‘Law enforcement was very rapid in both instances. Updates will be given throughout the day!’ Trump tweeted
He said his prayers to those in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio
Trump condemned the shooter in El Paso as carrying out a ‘hateful’ act and said he was a coward
The president is spending the weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club.
On Saturday night, Trump condemned the El Paso shooter, claiming the 21-year-old was a coward.
‘Today’s shooting in El Paso, Texas, was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice,’ he posted. ‘I know that I stand with everyone in this Country to condemn today’s hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people. Melania and I send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the great people of Texas.’
Several 2020 Democratic candidates came out Sunday morning to speak on both shootings, and claimed the president for the motivation of this violence.
Contenders Beto O’Rourke, who is from El Paso and represented the city when he was a U.S. congressman, Pete Buttigieg and Cory Booker both said while appearing on CNN’s State of the Union that Trump is a white nationalist.
Trump came under fire earlier in the morning Sunday by several 2020 Democratic primary candidates that claim he is a ‘white nationalist’ that is emboldening these shooters
2020 contedner Beto O’Rourke said Sunday morning that Donald Trump is a ‘white nationalist’ and ‘racist’ that is emboldening act of ‘white nationalist terrorism’
Fellow Democratic primary candidate Pete Buttigieg also said Trump is a white nationalist, claiming that ‘at best’ the president is ‘condoning and encouraging white nationalism’
‘We have a problem with white nationalist terrorism in the United States of America today,’ O’Rourke said. ‘These are white men motivated by the kind of fear that this president traffics.’
‘So again, let’s be very clear about what is causing this and what the president is: he is an open, avowed racist and is encouraging more racism in this country,’ he continued.
Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said Trump is ‘condoning and encouraging white nationalism’ at the very least.
New Jersey Senator Booker was mor direct, claiming that Trump is responsible for the shootings that cumulatively resulted in 29 deaths this weekend.
‘I turned my attention to the person who is leading this country, who is, in my opinion, in this moral moment, who is failing. That at the end of the day, especially since this was a white supremacist manifesto, that I want to say with more moral clarity that Donald Trump is responsible for this,’ Booker said Sunday.
Both shooters this weekend where white men. There are reports that the gunman identified as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius in El Paso told police when he was taken into custody that he was motivated because he wanted to kill as many Mexicans as possible
The second shooter acted about 12 hours later, targeting a street where people go out drinking in Dayton, Ohio. The 24-year-old white shooter killed nine people and was shot dead by police
In an El Paso Walmart on Saturday, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius opened fire, killing 20 and injuring another 26 more. Reports emerged that he told law enforcement when he was apprehended that his goal was to kill as many Mexicans as possible.
There is also a 2,400-word manifesto posted online, which was likely authored by Crusius, that explains why the shooting was carried out – essentially claiming that he was motivated to stop immigrants from outnumbering white Americans.
Hours later, in the very early hours of Sunday morning, a 24-year-old Connor Betts opened fire on a popular street where people go out to drink in Dayton, Ohio.
He killed nine people and 26 others were injured. He was shot dead when law enforcement responded to the shooting.
The motivation for carrying out the shooting is unknown.