Ayyyeee… What’s Goodie Everyone. So I got some tea and it involves a Texas man who is charged with manslaughter and here is why.
A Texas resident was charged with eight counts of manslaughter Monday after his SUV slammed into a crowd of migrants, killing eight people and injuring 10 others. But police said they had not yet determined whether the act was intentional.
George Alvarez, a Brownsville, Texas resident who police described as having a record that included prior charges of assault and driving while intoxicated, tried to flee the scene after the Sunday morning crash but was apprehended by witnesses, according to police and witnesses. Police Chief Felix Sauceda said in a news conference Monday that the department was awaiting results of formal toxicology tests. Alvarez is not cooperating, police said. Sauceda said that although authorities were not yet able to establish a motive, they had not “ruled out” an intentional act. Along with the manslaughter counts, he said, Alvarez was charged with 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His bond was set at $3.6 million, the chief said.
Saucedo said that “several” of the victims have been identified as Venezuelan nationals, many of whom had only recently crossed the border into Brownsville. Among the victims was a man who had been offering haircuts at the shelter to save money to visit his mother, according to one survivor. Others had tickets to leave that day by bus or plane to reunite with their families across the United States. Those victims had come to the United States fleeing political and financial turmoil that has ravaged Venezuela for years, according to migrant advocates and witnesses.
The criminal history Alvarez’s includes two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a count of assault against an elderly or disabled person, four counts of assault causing bodily injury to a family member, and at least 11 other charges, according to court records. It was not immediately clear how many of the charges had resulted in convictions.
The crash occurred about 8:30 a.m. local time Sunday, when Alvarez’s vehicle ran a red light and smashed into a bus stop near the shelter. The victims were all male, the police chief said. At least 18 people were struck.
The man identified by police as Alvarez then jumped from the car and tried to flee, Herrera said. But several men at the scene captured him.
As the witnesses pinned him to the ground, the driver repeatedly shouted, “You are invading my property, get out of my property you … migrants,” Herrera said. The tragedy comes during a time of crisis and insecurity in the border town of Brownsville. U.S. officials have set up a village of white tents and portable bathrooms, expecting a surge of migrants due to the expected lifting this week of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allowed Customs and Border Protection to swiftly expel migrants seeking humanitarian protection at the southern border.
The Venezuela government called on U.S. authorities “to thoroughly investigate and clarify the causes,” of the incident to rule out “hate and xenophobic practices against Venezuelan people … a product of a culture of violence and intolerance promoted by extremist sectors of US politics and society,” according to a statement posted on Twitter by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil.
Credit: The Washington Post.
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