As Yolanda Tinajero sat opposite the man who opened fire on an El Paso Walmart in 2019, the main thing on her mind was forgiveness. In a victim impact statement on Tuesday, 71-year-old Tinajero, whose brother was among 23 people killed in the shooting, told 26-year-old Patrick Crusius that she wanted "to hug you very tight so you could feel my forgiveness," though "I know it's not allowed." After she finished speaking, 409th District Judge Sam Medrano asked if hugging Crusius would truly bring her peace, and when she replied yes, told her to "go right ahead." So she did—as Medrano "began to weep," per El Paso Matters.
Emotions were high for the court hearing, coming a day after Crusius, a white community college dropout, pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated assault charges. It was established that he had driven 600 miles from his home in North Texas to stop what he considered "the Hispanic invasion of Texas." "If you would have come before to get to know our culture, you would have experienced what warm and good-hearted people us Hispanics are," Tinajero said in her statement. "We would have opened our doors to you to share a meal," she said. "Then your ugly thoughts of us that have been instilled in you would have turned around."
After advising Crusius to "repent and ask the Lord for forgiveness for your soul's sake," Tinajero was led across the courtroom to a shackled Crusius, who appeared confused, per El Paso Matters, which notes cameras were not then in the room. Tinajero then hugged Crusius "for about a minute" while whispering in his ear, leaving everyone, including law enforcement officers, in tears, per the El Paso Times. "She wanted him to feel that love is better than hate," Tinajero's daughter told reporters. Adriana Zandri, who lost her "proudly Mexican" husband in the shooting, later requested permission to hug Crusius, too. Less confused this time, Crusius embraced her as photographers snapped photos. (More El Paso shooting stories.)
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