EL PASO, Texas – The government has filed hate crime charges against a man who said he was targeting Mexicans and shot to death 22 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, in August.
Word of the charges comes from a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press.
That source says a multi-count federal indictment against suspected gunman Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas, is expected to be announced later Thursday at a news conference in El Paso.
The person who spoke to AP had direct knowledge of the case but was not authorized to disclose details of the indictment before the public announcement.
A lawyer for Crusius says he hopes federal prosecutors don’t to seek his client's execution.