At least seven of the 20 dead in Saturday’s attack, described by Mexico’s foreign minister as an “act of barbarism,” are Mexican nationals.
Mexico on Sunday threatened to take legal action against the United States for failing to protect its citizens after this weekend’s mass shooting in the border city of El Paso.
Of the 20 people gunned down at a Walmart adjacent to the Cielo Vista Mall, at least seven were Mexican citizens, and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard promised Mexico City will act.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry called the attack in El Paso a “terrorist act against innocent Mexicans.”
Ebrard called Saturday’s shooting an “act of barbarism.”
“The president has instructed me to ensure that Mexico’s indignation translates into … efficient, prompt, expeditious and forceful legal actions for Mexico to take a role and demand that conditions are established that protect … Mexicans in the United States,” Ebrard said in a video posted on Twitter.
Ebrard later announced that he would be in El Paso to meet with the victims and offer support from the Mexican government.
Of the 26 injured in the attack, at least nine were Mexican nationals, according to the government.
El Paso, America’s 22nd-largest city with an estimated population of 682,669, is more than 80 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. census data. El Paso sits just across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juárez, which has a population of 1.3 million.
The shooter appears to have been targeting Hispanics and authorities are investigating it as a hate crime. A 21-year-old Texas man was in custody.
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