Texas House rep says Trump not welcome in El Paso after shooting

The Texas congresswoman who represents El Paso on Monday said President Trump is not welcome in her district as the community mourns the death of 20 people following a mass shooting Saturday. 

“From my perspective he [Trump] is not welcome here. He should not come here while we are in mourning,” Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

{mosads}The El Paso shooter allegedly wrote a white nationalist manifesto ahead of his attack in the community near the border with Mexico, and many Democrats have pointed to the president’s rhetoric as encouraging violence.

Escobar said it is “probably unfair” to say the shooter came to El Paso as a result of Trump holding a rally in the city, but she said Trump needs to reflect on his words and actions at rallies that could be encouraging violent attacks such as the Saturday shooting. 

“I would encourage the president’s staff members to have him do a little self-reflection. I would encourage them to show him his own words and his actions at the rallies because we’re not going to get past this until there’s acknowledgment from the very top that we need to heal,” Escobar said.

“That this whole country is hurting, that here has been bigotry and racism and hatred that has been stoked at all levels, and as the president he has the most significant authority and responsibility to show this country to heal … and now is the time, and he needs to accept responsibility, everyone does, for what has gotten us to this point.”

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, a former Texas lawmaker and El Paso city councilman, has repeatedly said Trump’s rhetoric is in part to blame for stoking racism. 

Federal authorities are treating the El Paso shooting as a case of domestic terrorism and will pursue federal hate crime and firearm charges in connection with the massacre.

The shooting was one of two that shocked the nation last weekend.

Less than 24 hours after the killings in El Paso, at least nine people were killed in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio.