El Paso Shooter's Alleged Manifesto Claims Views 'Predate Trump'
Unconfirmed document uploaded to 8chan allegedly outlines reasons behind attack
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Following the horrific shooting attack in El Paso, Texas on Saturday, that left 20 people dead and 26 more wounded, several media outlets are reporting on a manifesto that was allegedly authored by the shooter.
While authorities believe that suspected gunman - 21-year-old Patrick Wood Crusius, who was arrested shortly after the shooting began and charged with capital murder - wrote the document, investigators say they are "still gathering evidence" and it has yet to be confirmed.
Police say they are "reasonably confident" that the manifesto, published 27 minutes prior to the shooting on the website 8chan's politics board and titled The Inconvenient Truth, is linked to the suspect.
A number of news outlets have since published portions of the alleged manifesto, in which the author specifically states that their views have been held for "several years," have nothing to do with President Donald Trump, and "predate" his presidency.
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The Washington Post reported Sunday: “Authorities believe … [the shooter] wrote the document, though they are still gathering evidence.”
WaPo also notes that the author “stresses that he has maintained his white supremacist ideology for many years, predating President Trump and his 2016 campaign, which he says did not influence his reasons for carrying out the attack.”
CNN added: "The writer wrote that their opinions on immigration predate President Trump, and the writer appears to have held these beliefs for years."
Portions of the alleged manifesto were published by LatinoRebels.com.
In it, the author supported the terrorist in Christchurch, New Zealand, who killed dozens of Muslims earlier this year, according to Breitbart.
The author also rails against the “Hispanic invasion of Texas;” condemns interracial relationships; and calls for a racial partition of the country.
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The author predicted that some people will blame Trump for the attack, but says that would be “fake news,” since he held his views for "several years" and they "predate Trump and his campaign for president."
"My ideology has not changed for several years," the purported Crusius text reads.
"My opinions on automation, immigration, and the rest predate Trump and his campaign for president.
"I [sic] putting this here because some people will blame the President or certain presidential candidates for the attack. This is not the case.
"I know that the media will probably call me a white supremacist anyway and blame Trump's rhetoric.
"The media is infamous for fake news. Their reaction to this attack will likely just confirm that," it continued.
Though the author reserved much of his political bile for Democrats, he also attacked Republicans and espoused some left-wing views, claiming that “our lifestyle is destroying the environment of our country.”
The El Paso shooting was followed several hours later by a mass shooting outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio, in which nine people were killed and dozens wounded.
