Mexico's foreign minister calls El Paso shooting "act of terrorism" against Mexicans

REUTERS - Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Monday (August 5) condemned the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas as an act of "terrorism against Mexicans" and called for gun control to prevent further tragedies. Ebrard's comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday proposed tighter monitoring of the internet, mental health reform and wider use of the death penalty in response to mass shootings over the weekend that killed 31 people in Texas and Ohio. Republican Trump, accused by Democrats of stoking racial divisions, said Americans must "condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy," a day after Texas officials said racial hatred was a possible motive in the killings of 22 people in the southern border town of El Paso. A 21-year-old white man has been charged with capital murder in Saturday's shooting spree. Police in El Paso cited a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto posted online shortly before the shooting, which they attributed to the suspect, Patrick Crusius. Trump did not address accusations that his own anti-immigrant and racially charged comments have contributed to a rise in race tensions, nor did he call for broad gun control measures. "We watched very carefully the statement of the president of the United States about what happened and I also want to underline that we recognize and agree with this statement that racism and white supremacy are serious problems in the United States," said Ebrard.