Even if he isn’t encouraging violent attacks on immigrants, Trump may be uniquely unwilling to curtail them

This article has been updated.

All of the following statements are true.

• President Trump condemns racist language and actions when pressed to do so, but often backtracks from that condemnation. He has echoed white supremacist rhetoric in the past and made racist comments.
• Trump frequently attacks immigrants to the United States from Mexico, Central America or predominantly Muslim countries in terms that suggest they are dangerous criminals or undeserving of being here.
• Trump supports the ability of civilians to buy weapons such as the AR-15 that are largely similar to the rifles carried by American combat troops.

There is no reason these three things should necessarily blend together into a scenario where someone echoing Trump’s rhetoric commits an act of violence targeting an immigrant community. But it’s not hard to see how they could.

The motive of Saturday’s mass shooting in El Paso which left 20 people dead has not yet been confirmed by law enforcement. There is reason to believe, however, that before opening fire the shooting suspect published a short screed disparaging immigrants to the United States and warning of an “invasion” of Hispanics. That term is one that Trump himself has used to describe migrants seeking entry to the United States from Mexico.