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Patrick Crusius has been charged with hate crimes resulting in death, hate crimes involving an attempt to kill, use of a firearm to commit murder and in relation to a crime of violence, and use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, according to the indictment unsealed Thursday.
US Attorney John F. Bash, along with other federal officials, are expected to announce the charges at a press conference in El Paso on Thursday.
CNN has reached out to Crusius’ attorneys for comment.
Crusius has been in custody at the El Paso County Detention Facility since his arrest in August and is awaiting trial on the state capital murder charge.
El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza has said he intends to seek the death penalty. Capital murder is the most serious charge in Texas and prosecutors can use it when a defendant is accused of killing multiple victims.
“We support the indictment by the U.S. Attorney’s Office as one more way of holding the shooter accountable,” Esparza said in a statement on Thursday. “The District Attorney’s Office will continue to work hard to ensure that justice is done and that the shooter is held accountable by our community.”
Authorities say the suspect drove 11 hours from his hometown of Allen, Texas, outside Dallas, to El Paso with the sole intent of killing immigrants and Mexicans in the West Texas border city.
About 20 minutes before the massacre, the suspected shooter is believed to have posted a 2,300-word manifesto, titled “The Inconvenient Truth,” in which he employed white supremacist language, stated his opposition to “race mixing” and encouraged immigrants to return to their home countries.
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