A diverse audience of El Pasoans gathered at their city’s Plaza Theatre August 1 to remember the victims of a mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart on August 3, 2019 that left 23 dead and 22 wounded.

“Remembering August 3: Memory, Trauma & Extremism,” brought people from all walks of life, each one affected by what happened on that day.  The event was designed to help participants continue to process the impact of the shooting and move forward toward healing.

ADL El Paso Community Relations Manager Peter Svarzbein opened the program by pointing out that the shooting was not an isolated incident, but a manifestation of the rise of extremism and hate in our society. He said the shooter drove over 600 miles to target residents of El Paso, a community he “had come to despise through the influence of xenophobic rhetoric and white supremacist ideologies,” and though it was tough to revisit what happened, he encouraged participants to recognize the shooting as a hate crime, and work toward eradicating hate.

Pastor Michael Grady, whose daughter was seriously wounded in the attack, delivered a moving invocation, during which he also encouraged participants to dedicate themselves to fighting hate.  Then KFOX-TV anchor Robert Holguin moderated a panel discussion which included ADL Southwest Senior Associate Director Dena Marks; licensed trauma and grief therapist Elizabeth Robles; and El Paso Matters President and CEO Bob Moore.

All three spoke about where they were when the attack occurred, and how they responded to the attack: Moore covered it as a journalist, Robles and other therapists went to the scene to help the victims and their families, and Marks worked with ADL’s Center on Extremism to get information about the shooter to the FBI and other law enforcement investigators.

All agreed that there was disturbing mainstreaming of anti-immigrant hate, spread by white supremacists and extremists touting the “Great Replacement” theory, which says that various elements in society, often Jews, are bringing non-white people into the United States to “replace” white Americans, and take their jobs, their security, and their way of life.

They also agreed that facing what happened that day, pushing back against white supremacist rhetoric, disinformation and misinformation, and dedicating their efforts to the fight against hate would help the community heal.

The event was sponsored by the Scherr Law Firm, whose CEO Macey Scherr honored the memory of the 23 people who died that day by somberly reading their names.  She said her firm sponsored the event because: “sponsoring this panel generates discourse in which we, as a community, can reflect on the August 3rd tragedy, understand how to continue healing and uncover ways in which we can help our fellow citizens practice  peace in our daily lives.”

For more information about ADL’s Southwest Region and its resources, contact Peter Svarzbein at psvarzbein@adl.org.