8 May 18 – 24, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents visitor. I’m Hispanic whether I like it or not.” He also seemingly wore his prejudice as a badge of honor, writing that a white friend once told him, “I’m not a racist compared to you.” The Allen massacre is the latest in a se- ries of violent crimes carried out by far-right extremists. Still, Garcia’s killing spree has spawned conspiracy theories, including that the shooting in Allen was a so-called false flag operation by the government. To Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, the idea that the outlet mall shooting was staged is “completely ridiculous.” The per- petrator was clearly a neo-Nazi, she said, pointing to his writings that were filled with praise for Adolf Hitler. The way Beirich sees it, the chatter sur- rounding whether Garcia could be a legiti- mate neo-Nazi distracts from the conversation that needs to take place: the fact that these ideas are spreading on social media. “People are being radicalized, and they’re committing violence,” she said. “We should be talking about, ‘What are we go- ing to do about this?’, not claiming that the Allen mall attack was a false flag or, ‘This guy couldn’t possibly have been a racist.’” Other Texans with Hispanic/Latino heri- tage have committed headline-grabbing rac- ist hate crimes. Last year, Midland’s Jose Gomez III pleaded guilty to attacking an Asian family because he thought they were Chinese and, therefore, “responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the De- partment of Justice. Beirich noted that political commentator Nick Fuentes is a white supremacist and Holocaust denier whose father is reportedly half Mexican American. Afro-Cuban En- rique Tarrio, the former leader of the violent extremist group Proud Boys, was convicted of seditious conspiracy earlier this month over his role in the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Beirich also cited the case of Leo Fel- ton, a biracial neo-Nazi and white su- premacist. In 2001, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report magazine wrote that Felton — whose dad was Black — had been implicated in a plot to “bomb [B]lack or Jewish landmarks to ignite a race war.” (He has since reportedly “re- nounced his racism.”) Self-loathing is a key issue in cases like these, as is the country’s history of white su- premacy: “Generally, they see a culture in which whiteness is prized,” Beirich said. “And they want to be part of the dominant culture, right? They’re attracted to these ideas,” she continued. “So they assume an identity that is different from the ethnicity that they’re born into, and it resonates with power and all the things that [Garcia] was at- tracted to: violence, power, dominance.” Michael Phillips, a senior research fellow at the Clements Center for Southwest Stud- ies at Southern Methodist University, wasn’t surprised to learn that Garcia identified as a white supremacist. Phillips touched on a similar theme in his book White Metropolis and said it has roots in Mexican history. In the early 1800s, people who claimed pure Spanish ancestry sat at the top of Mexican society and tended to be wealthy, Phillips said. Below them in the hierarchy were enslaved people, indigenous people and people of mixed race, all of whom were viewed as racially inferior. “There’s also a phrase in Latin America … ‘money whitens.’ In other words, the richer you are, the whiter you are. And of course, the whiter you are, the higher status you have,” he said. “So this is a really big, big, big part of Mexican history, and it’s part of the whole European heritage of white supremacy.” Fast-forward to early 1950s North Texas: A Hispanic man helped lead an effort to pre- vent the integration of a South Dallas neigh- borhood, including by erecting “For Whites Only” signs on sellers’ front yards, Phillips said. He even threatened families at knife- point to not accept Black buyers in the hope that oppressing others would effectively boost his own social capital. Yet there is no universal definition of what it means to be “white,” Phillips contin- ued. Whiteness doesn’t exist as a category scientifically. At certain points in history, Irish, Italian and Jewish people also didn’t fall under that umbrella. Phillips noted that Collin County, where the mass shooting occurred, is an “epicenter of political extremism,” including for those with Islamophobic views and Jan. 6 insur- rectionists. “Dallas-Fort Worth, period, is a magnet for political extremism — even as Dallas turns blue and the city of Fort Worth turns blue,” he said. “There are still elements in Dallas and Fort Worth, but also the suburbs are even more extreme,” he continued. “This is an un- speakable tragedy, but I’m surprised things like this haven’t happened more often.” ▼ GUN VIOLENCE COPYCAT TERROR THREATS FRIGHTEN NORTH TEXAS FOLLOWING ALLEN MASSACRE. BY SIMONE CARTER I t happened after Uvalde, and now it’s hap- pening again. Copycat threats are crop- ping up throughout North Texas following the mass shooting at an Allen outlet mall. Like last May’s Uvalde massacre, during which a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school, the latest Texas slaughter has GOP lawmakers blam- ing mental health and gun control advocates demanding change. The Allen mass shooting unfolded less than three weeks before the one-year anni- versary of the Uvalde attack and claimed the lives of eight victims, including several chil- dren. It has inspired heated debates about the efficacy of thoughts and prayers in stav- ing off future gun violence. It has also appar- ently inspired would-be wrongdoers to indulge their dark impulses. Now, police departments throughout North Texas are busy stamping out other potential threats. On the same day as the Allen shooting, Stonebriar Mall in Frisco was evacuated following reports that gunfire had erupted. Frisco police searched the mall, but their investigation found no evidence to support the claims. The police department tweeted that before officers had learned of the now-debunked shooting, “a large number of teens gathered inside the mall and began running and scream- ing, causing panic.” In a separate Frisco incident, local police announced that officers had apprehended a middle school student after the 13-year-old made an online threat against multiple Frisco ISD campuses. The Frisco Police Department also noted in its statement that it has arrested nine peo- ple for school-related terroristic threats since the start of the school year. On May 8, Plano ISD’s anonymous tip line received word of a social media post that “implied a general threat,” according to Local Profile. The post didn’t identify a spe- cific district or school, and both Plano ISD and law enforcement have deemed the threat to be noncredible. A sizable police presence around Dallas’ Katy Trail area on May 7 led to social media speculation of another active shooter. “Cops have shut down Fitzhugh and are telling people to stay indoors. Stay safe!” one Reddit user wrote. NBC 5 News’ Meredith Land also tweeted that day about the Dallas Police De- partment’s response to the area. Local law enforcement had reportedly been called to the 4200 block of Buena Vista Street to in- vestigate a potential bomb threat. In Denton, two middle schools in Denton were referenced in a recent social media threat, according to the Denton Record- Chronicle. Soon after, law enforcement was dispatched to Calhoun and Strickland mid- dle schools but ultimately “determined the threat was not substantiated.” ▼ CITY HALL NO MANDATES GIVEN LOW VOTER TURNOUT PLAGUES DALLAS CITY COUNCIL ELECTION. BY JACOB VAUGHN A ll of the incumbents up for reelec- tion won their races for Dallas City Council, despite the endorsements of some of their challengers by police and firefighter associations. In the wrap-up be- low, it might seem like we’re dealing with some small numbers. That’s because we are. Voter turnout was low this year, even by Dallas’ typical low standards. According to The Dallas Morning News, only 8.8% of Dallas County voters cast bal- lots in this election. That’s slightly lower than the turnout in 2019 and 2021, which hovered around 9%. If you ask Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, he can’t believe the lack of voter interest and resulting low turnout. “This city voter apathy is unbelievable,” Mata said. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson ran unopposed and received 93.02% of the vote. Write-in candidate Kendal Richardson got 552 votes, or 1.19%. The rest of the votes went to uncertified write-in candidates. “This victory today belongs to the people of Dallas, and I am looking forward to continuing to lead our city to even greater heights over the next four years,” Johnson wrote on social media. Community advocates Al- bert Mata and Mariana Griggs challenged District 1 City Council member Chad West for his seat at City Hall. During their campaigns, Mata and Griggs both said equal representation was a key factor in their decision to run. They said the Hispanic and Latino communities in District 1 didn’t feel they had a voice under West’s leader- ship. West is a white man, and some 86% of people in his district identify as Hispanic and Latino, according to the city. West still won his reelection with 2,132 votes, or just over 52% of the ballots cast. Griggs collected 346 votes, or 8.46%, and Mata 1,613, or 39.4%. In an email to residents, West wrote, “I’m honored to have been reelected to represent District 1 as Council Member for another two years, and I’m looking forward to jump- ing back into policy work and continuing to improve efficiencies at the city.” Joe Raedle/Getty Images Mourners at a memorial near the scene of the mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets mall. Unfair Park from p6 THE ALLEN MASS SHOOTING UNFOLDED LESS THAN THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE UVALDE ATTACK...
