Free Republic

On a Saturday morning in August 2019, a 21-year-old White man with ear protectors, safety glasses and an AK-47-style rifle walked into a crowded Walmart in El Paso, Tex., his pockets bulging with ammunition. He had to driven hundreds of miles across the state, prosecutors say, because he wanted to kill Latinos.Kevin McAleenan, the acting Homeland Security secretary, was at a Coast Guard picnic in Virginia that day, and soon the urgent messages began arriving. A sinking feeling of horror set in as the magnitude of the attack became clear. “It was devastating,” he said.Twenty-three people were murdered in the...

The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism alert warning that violent domestic extremists could attack in the coming weeks, emboldened by the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. DHS, in an alert issued Wednesday, said violent extremists opposed to the government and the presidential transition “could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,” though the department said it doesn’t have evidence of a specific plot. The DHS release was part of a public alert called a National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin. The alert is the department’s first in about a year. The last such bulletin from...

The man who police say committed the deadly shooting spree in El Paso, Texas, is believed to have published an anti-immigrant manifesto minutes before the attack. Law enforcement officials said they were confident that an anti-immigrant screed posted online belongs to Patrick Wood Crusius, 21, who they said is responsible for Saturday’s mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso—leaving at least 20 dead and 26 wounded or injured. The nearly 2,400-word manifesto outlines reasons for launching the attack, breaking down the “political” and “economic” motivations. The entire diatribe argues that U.S. leaders—both Republicans and Democrats—are guilty of allowing unfettered...