CAPAC Chair Statement on Mass Shooting in Allen, Texas

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, CAPAC Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) released the following statement about the mass shooting in Allen, Texas, after reports emerged about the gunman’s social media presence.

“Yet another community in the United States is grappling with horrific violence unleashed by the toxic combination of white supremacist ideology and easy access to assault weapons. Our hearts break for the families of the eight victims and seven wounded survivors who were simply out for a day of weekend shopping. A six-year-old Korean American child lost both his parents and younger brother, who was only three years old. Elementary school age sisters were killed, and their mother remains in critical care. A young woman engineer from India and a mall security guard also lost their lives. Enough is enough.

“While investigations into specific motive are ongoing, Allen, Texas, and the surrounding areas have among the highest percentage of Asian Americans outside of the coasts and half of the victims are also of Asian descent. With the shooter’s likely social media presence demonstrating an ugly promotion of neo-Nazism and violent white supremacist ideology, it remains clear Congress and elected officials around the country have a lot more to do to fight extremism here at home and create a safe, welcoming multiracial democracy for us all.

“This is the second largest mass shooting in this country this year, but every single day Americans die from gun violence. From going to the mall, going to school, to celebrating Lunar New Year, knocking on the wrong door or driving down the wrong driveway, it is clear that the problem is the guns. We must ban assault weapons now. Letting these weapons of war remain on our streets comes at the cost of American lives.”

CAPAC endorsed the Assault Weapons Act of 2023 in February following the mass shooting in Monterey Park, California.