Eighty-one percent of Latino voters in Texas are concerned about racism-motivated gun violence and that the Latino community might be targeted again in attacks similar to the mass shooting in El Paso, according to a survey sponsored by the gun control group Giffords and the progressive group Latino Victory Project.
Twenty-two people were killed and 24 injured when a gunman opened fire in an El Paso Walmart last month. In a manifesto, the shooter said he wanted to kill Mexicans.
“That particular shooting, the scale of it and just the raw emotion around it has left an indelible mark in Latinos not just in Texas but all over the country,” Mayra Macias, executive director of Latino Victory Project, said.
The poll finds 82% of Latino voters hold President Trump partly responsible for an increase in anti-immigrant and anti-Latino rhetoric.
It also found 80% want stricter gun laws.
When asked about their top issues in the 2020 election, health care ranked highest for Latino voters, followed by gun violence and immigration. Eighty-eight percent say the plan to vote in that election.
Macias doesn’t expect concern about gun violence to fade by then.
“Unfortunately, the data shows us that from now until the 2020 election, it’s very likely that we have another attack like this [in El Paso],” she said.
The Texas-wide survey of 1,022 self-reported registered voters was conducted online by AudienceNet and Mosaic Media Strategy Group between Sept. 6 and Sept. 13.
