Another underreported racist attack against Latinos took place in Crete, Nebraska three weeks ago that left 7 Guatemalan immigrants injured. Billy Booth (74) targeted the group of immigrants when he fired a shotgun from inside his home. All of the victims are related and ranged in age from 3 to 43 years old. Booth later took his own life according to Nebraska State Patrol (NSP).
Police confirmed that Booth had previously targeted the family saying things like “go back to where you came from” and “speak English,” common phrasing heard among racists. The attack highlights the rise in anti-Latino hate crimes in the wake of the media hype about a so-called “invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border. An idea bolstered by irresponsible reporting that used language such as “crisis” and “surge” seen and heard across all major media platforms.
Despite Booth and the family not having any contact immediately before the shooting, NSP believes the shooting was racially motivated based on previous reports. NSP also said the family had declined to press charges against Booth for earlier incidents. This, like a similar story from Texas that resulted in the death of Aaron Martinez, is being overlooked by major media outlets and therefore being whitewashed by society overall.
While someone like Booth is unlikely to be directly involved with hate groups, his beliefs and actions did not happen in a vacuum. As I spend much of my time debunking far-right propaganda that leads to mass shootings like the El Paso massacre at a Walmart in 2019, it becomes a near impossibility as more funding pours into movements like Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, Conservative Partnership Insititute, and hate groups associated with them.
Latinos are facing tumultuous times as xenophobic rhetoric motivated by Latinophobia grows across political, racial, and social boundaries. The normalization of villanizing nonwhite immigrants has only grown over the last decade as society continues to find ways to justify the inhumane treatment of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. More and more, mainstream media and society overall have been fostering debunked myths leading to such rationales.
It has to end.
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