From “Scapegoats: The Gospel Through the Eyes of Victims” by Jennifer Garcia Bashaw
What caused America’s religious and political leaders to direct their fear and anger toward a particular ethnic group that had done nothing more than seek sanctuary for their families in danger? The answer is as old as time: a dominant social group, troubled by the shift in America’s demographic reality, needed someone to blame for looming change that threatened its power. The growing immigrant population was an easy and convenient target. As political pundits exaggerated the threat of immigrants, characterizing them as the enemy, “an infestation crossing the border,” resentment in public discourse rose. The president of the United States added to the caricature, throwing fuel onto the civic fire. As the angry rhetoric reached a fever pitch, Patrick Crusius drove ten hours to a city on the US-Mexico border and gunned down the people he believed bore the blame for the ills of society. America had created a scapegoat, and it became deadly for the innocent men, women, and children at the Walmart that day.