WASHINGTON: The man accused of killing eight people at a Texas shopping mall recently obtained large Nazi tattoos, praised other mass shooters and wrote just ahead of his attack that he would “fight hate with more hate.” Mauricio Garcia, the 33-year-old who police say opened fire with an assault rifle on shoppers at the Allen Premium Outlets mall on Saturday, posted his diaries, photographs of his tattoos, and cryptic warnings of his coming attack on the Russian social media site OK.RU.

His diaries expressed hate for women, Jews, and “diversity,” rarely commenting on his own Hispanic ethnicity. He also posted pictures of his guns, body armour, and patches of skulls and the initials for “Right Wing Death Squad” popular with far-right militias.

But there was no indication that Garcia was a part of any group or had the support of anyone else in his Saturday attack. Garcia was shot dead by a police officer shortly after launching his attack on the busy mall in the suburb north of Dallas, authorities said. His victims included three members of a Korean-American family, two sisters of elementary school age, an Indian-American engineer, a security guard at the mall and a 32-year-old man.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2023