Texas Gov. Greg Abbott received backlash after incorrectly claiming that all the victims of the state’s latest mass shooting were “illegal immigrants.”
Discussing the manhunt for fugitive Francisco Oropeza – the man suspected of killing five people after a couple asked him to stop firing his gun in his yard late at night – Abbott announced a $50,000 reward for information on the shooter, “who is in the country illegally and killed five illegal immigrants.”
While officials confirmed that Oropeza was a Mexican native who had been deported multiple times, the husband of one of the victims who helped shield three children from gunfire said his wife was a permanent resident of the United States.
Her permanent resident card, better known as a Green Card, shows that Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, has been a legal resident of the US since December 2021.
Carlos Eduardo Espina, a local community activist who tweeted a picture of Alvarado’s ID, slammed Abbott’s characterization of the victims.
“I guess to Greg Abbott, anyone who is from another country is an ‘‘illegal immigrant’. Shameful,” he wrote.
Police confirmed that all the victims in the shooting were from Honduras, but have not mentioned their immigration status.
The other victims of Friday night’s deadly shooting were Sonia Guzman, 25; her son Daniel Enrique Laso, 9; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, police said.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Oropeza had been deported four times in the last 14 years, with his last deportation dated in July 2016. He also had a DUI conviction from 2012 in Montgomery County.
Many on social media were quick to condemn Abbott, including Star Trek actor George Takei, who took to Twitter to slam the Texas governor.
“This is despicable. I would have thought bringing up the immigration status of the innocent victims of this senseless violence would be beneath even you,” he wrote. “But I was wrong.”
Fred Guttenberg, who lost his child in Florida’s Parkland school shooting in 2018, wrote: “On behalf of those like my daughter who are victims of gun violence, F– YOU!!!”
Another Twitter user wrote: “I see Greg never misses an opportunity to gain political points – even during the worst of tragedies.”
Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, more than 250 law enforcement officers are currently deployed in the Lone Star state hunting for Oropeza, who remains on the run and is considered armed and dangerous.
Along with Abbott’s $50,000, the FBI is chipping in another $30,000 for any critical intel on Oropeza’s whereabouts, raising the reward to whopping $80,000.