El Paso - when hatred came from an outsider to attack innocent people
Over the weekend, a mass shooting in an El Paso, Texas Walmart left 22 people dead just hours before another shooting killed nine in Dayton, Ohio. Trump is slated to visit both cities Wednesday, but before he gets there, Archuleta wrote an open letter to Trump emphasizing that "the violence that pierced El Paso, drawing you here today, is not of our own community."
The suspected El Paso shooter drove from Dallas to conduct "a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas," he said in what appeared to be a pre-shooting manifesto. "The hatred that came to us came from an outsider," Archuleta said in his letter, adding that "this is not the El Paso we want the world to know." He went on to describe how people from El Paso lined up to donate more blood, ice, and water than were even needed. And he praised El Paso's relationship with its sister city Juárez, Mexico, countering Trump's declaration that El Paso's proximity to the border made it "one of our nation’s most dangerous cities." It was all wrapped up inside a stunning front page that listed the names of the shootings' victims above a bold message to Trump.
Dear Donald Trump:
You arrived on tragic day....during a visit El Paso Texas.
Less than a week ago, 22 of our own were killed as they shopped in a neighborhood store, as they prepared for their weekends, as they provided for their families.
Most of them were from El Paso.
Eight victims were from our sister city of Juárez, steps away.
During your visit, you will find us in the agony of our mourning.
The violence that pierced El Paso, drawing you here, is not of our own community.
Two days after a mass murder at a Walmart in El Paso, the community continues to hold vigil and prayer. (Mark R. Lambie, El Paso Times)
As Grant lost blood and stumbled from the store, a woman helped stop the bleeding. She helped rush him to medical care. She had been shopping on her day off. Her name is Donna Sifford. She has been in El Paso since 1992. She is a port director for Customs and Border Protection.
They met again later at the hospital and embraced. Now, they are friends as well as neighbors.
This is El Paso.
Make no mistake. Our city is in pain. We were targeted by a white supremacist, and we are suffering. We will remember the names of the 22 neighbors who died.
We all want the same thing — we want our country to prosper. That’s not different from your goal for America.
For many of us, our parents were born in Mexico. We are proud of that and we are also proud Americans.
America is our country. We are home.
Not everyone who visits El Paso has understood this.
During a visit to El Paso in April 2017, then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called El Paso “ground zero.” He said our city was “the front lines … where we take our stand” against cartels and human traffickers.
Mr. President, in your February State of the Union address, you claimed that El Paso was “one of our nation’s most dangerous cities” before a border wall was built.
Mr. President, that is not El Paso.
El Pasoans Grieve at Hope Border Institute Interfaith Vigil
Our city and Juárez were always linked. Today, we are intertwined more than ever. The evil that visited us targeted people from El Paso and Juárez alike. In our sorrow, we are more alike than ever.
Some in our community doubt we will be able to change your view of our border community. But it is important to us that we explain all that is good about El Paso.
In El Paso, when a baby in a onesie was covered in blood in an attack on a neighborhood store, a man scooped her up and raced for the exits.
In El Paso, when our neighbors were hurt, people and businesses donated more than $1 million in just two days to help them.
Our people are scared. Many of us feel our city is still viewed as a target.
But El Paso does not lash out in anger, even when we are treated unfairly.
In El Paso, we won’t ever look at someone who is different with prejudice in our hearts.
The hatred that came to us came from an outsider.
During your visit, you will find us in the agony of our mourning.
The violence that pierced El Paso, drawing you here, is not of our own community.
It was an outsider came who came to El Paso to shatter our city, to murder our neighbors. A white man from another Texas city came to target the more than 80% of us who share Hispanic roots.
We are horrified to have witnessed this violence in our city.
This is not the El Paso we want the world to know. This is a city with a deep tradition of racial harmony. It is a city of warm, compassionate, patriotic, accepting residents who did not deserve this suffering.
But, Mr. Trump, while we are sorry to have seen such violence and to have felt such pain, one other thing must be said about today.
Your visit was on very good day for El Paso.
In spite of our suffering, you will see the city that makes us proud.
We are horrified to have witnessed this violence in our city.
This is not the El Paso we want the world to know. This is a city with a deep tradition of racial harmony. It is a city of warm, compassionate, patriotic, accepting residents who did not deserve this suffering.
But, Mr. Trump, while we are sorry to have seen such violence and to have felt such pain, one other thing must be said about today.
Your visit was on very good day for El Paso.
In spite of our suffering, you will see the city that makes us proud.
El Pasoans join hands and pray during the Hope Border Institute Prayer Vigil on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019, in El Paso, Texas, a day after...Mark Lambie/El Paso Times
As our neighbors lay bleeding in hospitals, El Paso stood in line, in 104-degree heat, to donate blood — so much blood that organizers had more than they could handle.
As families waited to be reunited with missing loved ones, El Paso quickly brought so much water and ice to their aid that donors were turned away.
When a gunman passed over one man to target others, that man didn’t turn and run. He grabbed soda bottles from the shelves and started throwing, trying to distract the gunman from his evil intent. He was shot twice because of it. His name is Chris Grant. He is from El Paso.
El Pasoans Come Together to Heal at Vigil Outside Walmart
As our neighbors lay bleeding in hospitals, El Paso stood in line, in 104-degree heat, to donate blood — so much blood that organizers had more than they could handle.
As families waited to be reunited with missing loved ones, El Paso quickly brought so much water and ice to their aid that donors were turned away.
When a gunman passed over one man to target others, that man didn’t turn and run. He grabbed soda bottles from the shelves and started throwing, trying to distract the gunman from his evil intent. He was shot twice because of it. His name is Chris Grant. He is from El Paso.
El Pasoans Come Together to Heal at Vigil Outside Walmart
Two days after a mass murder at a Walmart in El Paso, the community continues to hold vigil and prayer. (Mark R. Lambie, El Paso Times)
As Grant lost blood and stumbled from the store, a woman helped stop the bleeding. She helped rush him to medical care. She had been shopping on her day off. Her name is Donna Sifford. She has been in El Paso since 1992. She is a port director for Customs and Border Protection.
They met again later at the hospital and embraced. Now, they are friends as well as neighbors.
This is El Paso.
Make no mistake. Our city is in pain. We were targeted by a white supremacist, and we are suffering. We will remember the names of the 22 neighbors who died.
Their names are printed here. (I posted this article link to Twitter.)
The violence of that day may have been a product of his hatred. It was not a product of our community.
Our community did not deserve this.
Our compassion for one another goes back to the city’s founding.
We were pioneers when a basketball coach from a small college we now know as UTEP started five African American players in a national championship basketball game for the first time — and won.
Fort Bliss, a key U.S. Army base, draws service members from around the world. They make us an international city many times over. When these patriots retire, many are purposeful in making El Paso their home.
When Pope Francis visited the Americas, he chose Juárez to conclude his trip. From there, he could reach out to the world on both sides of the border.
In El Paso, we embrace our relationship with Juárez. We are not separated by a border fence. In El Paso, the border is an opportunity. Commerce helps everyone share in the American dream.
The violence of that day may have been a product of his hatred. It was not a product of our community.
Our community did not deserve this.
Our compassion for one another goes back to the city’s founding.
We were pioneers when a basketball coach from a small college we now know as UTEP started five African American players in a national championship basketball game for the first time — and won.
Fort Bliss, a key U.S. Army base, draws service members from around the world. They make us an international city many times over. When these patriots retire, many are purposeful in making El Paso their home.
When Pope Francis visited the Americas, he chose Juárez to conclude his trip. From there, he could reach out to the world on both sides of the border.
In El Paso, we embrace our relationship with Juárez. We are not separated by a border fence. In El Paso, the border is an opportunity. Commerce helps everyone share in the American dream.
We all want the same thing — we want our country to prosper. That’s not different from your goal for America.
For many of us, our parents were born in Mexico. We are proud of that and we are also proud Americans.
America is our country. We are home.
Not everyone who visits El Paso has understood this.
During a visit to El Paso in April 2017, then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called El Paso “ground zero.” He said our city was “the front lines … where we take our stand” against cartels and human traffickers.
Mr. President, in your February State of the Union address, you claimed that El Paso was “one of our nation’s most dangerous cities” before a border wall was built.
Mr. President, that is not El Paso.
El Pasoans Grieve at Hope Border Institute Interfaith Vigil
Our city and Juárez were always linked. Today, we are intertwined more than ever. The evil that visited us targeted people from El Paso and Juárez alike. In our sorrow, we are more alike than ever.
Some in our community doubt we will be able to change your view of our border community. But it is important to us that we explain all that is good about El Paso.
In El Paso, when a baby in a onesie was covered in blood in an attack on a neighborhood store, a man scooped her up and raced for the exits.
In El Paso, when our neighbors were hurt, people and businesses donated more than $1 million in just two days to help them.
Our people are scared. Many of us feel our city is still viewed as a target.
But El Paso does not lash out in anger, even when we are treated unfairly.
In El Paso, we won’t ever look at someone who is different with prejudice in our hearts.
The hatred that came to us came from an outsider.
It did not come from El Paso.
Tim Archuleta is editor of the El Paso Times.
Tim Archuleta is editor of the El Paso Times.
Labels: Dayton Ohio, Donald Trump, El Paso Times, Tim Archuleta
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