NHMC | Remembering the Victims of El Paso Massacre

August 3, 2021

A Statement  from Brenda Victoria Castillo, President & CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC)

Today marks the second anniversary of the horrific shooting in El Paso, Texas that took the life of twenty three people, and injured twenty three more at a Walmart. The National Hispanic Media Coalition commemorates this anniversary with a call for healing, justice, and prevention. 

It is no secret that the El Paso Massacre was an act of hate, white supremacy, and racism. The domestic terrorist who opened fire in a Walmart posted his manifesto online explicitly reasoning his rampage on stopping the “Hispanic invasion”. As NHMC said firmly at our virtual event, A Brighter Tomorrow: Remembering Victims of the El Paso Massacre and Addressing Disinformation Through Social Media, we must hold social media companies accountable for the hate and violence that flourishes on their platforms, and manifests into harm in our communities. The El Paso Massacre weighs heavily in our minds as a reminder that online hate has real world consequences. We have so much work to do, to protect our communities and honor the memories of those we have lost to hateful acts of violence. 

We must end the dehumanization of Latinx in this country, and demand that we be given the safety and dignity we deserve both on and offline. As an organization on this solemn day, we commit to continuing the fight against organized hate and white supremacy. It is my hope that you, as a reader, can join us. 

Yours in the Movement, 

Brenda Victoria Castillo
President & CEO
National Hispanic Media Coalition 

NHMC co-hosted an in-person/virtual event A Brighter Tomorrow: Remembering the Victims of the El Paso Massacre & Addressing Disinformation through Social Media on August 2, 2021. Details and images of the event are listed below.

Day: Monday, August 2, 2021

Time: 3 PM EDT / 2 PM CDT / 1 PM MDT / 12 PM PDT

Location:

Education Service Center Region 19,

6611 Boeing Dr, El Paso, TX 79925

Room: Tierra Del Sol

Opening Remarks

• Domingo Garcia, National LULAC President

Moment of silence for the Victims of the El Paso Massacre

Remarks

• Assistant Fire Chief Jorge Rodriguez (Invited), El Paso Emergency Management and Special Operations
• The Honorable Veronica Escobar,  U.S. Representative (TX-16th)
• His Excellency Esteban Moctezuma Barragán (Invited), Ambassador of Mexico to the United States of America
• Counselor of Embassy Mauricio Ibarra Ponce de Leon (Invited), Consul General of Mexico to El Paso
• Jonathan Greenblatt,  Anti-Defamation League
• Brenda Victoria Castillo, National Hispanic Media Coalition

Closing Remarks

• Belen Robles, LULAC National President Emeritus (Invited)

The coalition also released a statement and demands which call on the government, the tech industry, and the rest of civil society to commit to fighting racism and disinformation on digital platforms.

Watch the broadcast on LULAC's website