Donald Trump’s racist attack on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley was followed on 3 August 2019 by two horrific mass shootings in the space of 24 hours, the latest reminder that his rhetoric could have tragic consequences.
In El Paso, Texas, 21-year-old gunman Patrick Crusius marched into a Walmart, largely frequented by Hispanic customers, at 10.40am and shot dead 23 people, injuring as many more.
Crusius was later found to have posted a white nationalist manifesto on 8chan warning of “the Great Replacement” and echoing language used by the president, notably regarding the country facing an “invasion” by Latino migrants.
