Houston, TX, Sept. 13, 2021—ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) applauds the El Paso Police Department for the arrest of a suspect in the murder of El Paso attorney Georgette Kaufmann and the shooting of her husband, Daniel, and for taking the alleged bias motivation in the case seriously.

“We are grateful to the El Paso Police Department for their dogged determination to find a suspect in this case,” said ADL Southwest Regional Director Mark B. Toubin.  “We also applaud their release of the affidavit that points to an alleged antisemitic motive for the murder and shooting. Clearly they realize such a violent attack targeting two Jewish individuals affects the entire Jewish community.   We are glad they are taking this case so seriously, and we are confident the perpetrator will be brought to justice.”

Police charged Joseph Angel Alvarez with one count of murder and another count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the November 2020 murder/shooting, and released an affidavit revealing the alleged suspect may have been motivated by antisemitism.

According to media reports, the affidavit revealed that hours before the shootings, Alvarez allegedly wrote a 22-page manifesto filled with antisemitic and conspiratorial beliefs to the Army’s 902D Military Intelligence group claiming pro-choice individuals in the Kaufmann’s neighborhood were part of the “Jewish Satanist Party,” and abortion is “Jewish child sacrifice.” Police said they believe Alvarez was acting out his manifesto with his alleged attack on the Kaufmanns.

ADL’s Southwest Region covers and includes most of southern Texas from El Paso on the west to Beaumont and Orange on the east.