Texas Mall Shooting, Title 42 Ending, Trump Trial
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A gunman killed eight people at a Texas outlet mall over the weekend. Police say an officer was already on the scene. He heard gunshots, located the shooter, neutralized the shooter. How do the governor and the president differ on how to respond? I'm Steve Inskeep with Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. ♪

Also in Texas, a car ran over people near a migrant center in Brownsville. Eight people are dead, ten more injured. The driver's motive is still unknown, although the incident comes at a tense time for migrants as the expiration of Title 42 approaches. And closing arguments begin today in the sexual assault trial of former President Donald Trump. Writer E. Jean Carroll accused him of raping her in the mid-90s. So stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. ♪

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At a Texas shopping mall over the weekend, a gunman killed eight people before a police officer killed him. And here is some perspective on that shooting. It was not the worst mass shooting in years in the United States, nor was it even the worst mass shooting this year. Rather, it is the second worst mass shooting so far this year, coming behind a shooting in Monterey Park, California. Police say the victims in Texas ranged from five years old to 61 years old.

KERA's Katherine Hobbs is with us now from Dallas with the latest on what happened and how people are responding. Katherine, good morning. Good morning. First, what can you tell us about the person who did this?

So police have identified the shooter as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia. And while the investigation is ongoing, authorities have already searched Garcia's motel room and a nearby Dallas home with connections to him. Details about his motive haven't been confirmed yet. But President Biden spoke yesterday and said that Garcia used an AR-15 style assault weapon and wore tactical gear to the mall that day.

He also said that children were among those killed. The AP is reporting the police are looking into Garcia's ideology as a possible motive. I understand that several vigils took place last night across North Texas. You went to one at the site of the shooting at the mall. Would you just tell us what you saw?

So a small group of protesters were demanding action from elected officials. Shonda Atkins sat with her daughters and she held a sign that read, have y'all changed your mind on gun laws yet? Atkins says she arrived at the mall the day of the shooting, just moments before Garcia opened fire and she fled in a panic.

I always come to Allen Outlet. It's always felt so safe to me. But when you look at the gun problem that we have as a whole here in America, it's time that we take a stance. Atkins said she was really shocked by the senseless violence. There were no counter-protesters in attendance at the scene last night.

Also in attendance was community leader Cheryl Jackson. She runs Minnie's Food Pantry in Allen, Texas, and she led the mourners in prayer and in a verse of amazing grace while candles were being placed around the crosses. The group chanted, enough is enough, while lighting their votives. And as the group ended up dispersing at the end, many stayed behind to sit quietly amidst the glow of the candlelight. You know, you could really hear the emotion in her voice. What about some of the other people that you had a chance to speak with? How has this affected them? I

I spoke with several people at the vigil, and many of them there don't have a personal connection to the victims or their families. One woman I talked with, Catherine Reed, was kneeling in the grass, and she prayed for several minutes and said that when her community is hurting, she is hurting, and that even in the face of anger, she's always going to pray for her community.

across the lawn from her, there were a group of teenagers who sat huddled together and crying. They told me that they were terrified to go to school, that they never knew if they were safe. They were embracing each other and were reassuring each other as best they could that they were all okay. But one girl broke away from the group and whispered to me that she doesn't believe her friends and she doesn't ever really know if she can be sure that she is safe. And before we let you go, what are the elected officials saying?

I was at a press conference a couple of nights ago, and during that press conference, we heard from a handful of officials. One of them who spoke was the Allen chief of police and, you know, other officials as well. And they all asked the community to pray for victims and their families and

All the officials said that they'll continue to provide details as they do become available. No one who spoke mentioned anything about policy or legislation. But speaking Sunday on Fox News, Governor Greg Abbott said that Texas lawmakers won't enact gun control for now. There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of anger and violence that's taking place in America.

And what Texas is doing in a big time way, we are working to address that anger and violence by going to its root cause, which is addressing the mental health problems behind it. At the federal level, President Biden urged Congress to pass meaningful gun control laws. He said that would include universal background checks and the safe storage of firearms. That is KERA's Catherine Hobbs reporting. Catherine, thank you so much. Thank you so much.

In Brownsville, Texas, a driver crashed into a group of people at a bus stop. The vehicle killed at least eight people, which was near a migrant shelter. The driver's motive is uncertain, but it is a tense moment. The pandemic restrictions known as Title 42 are set to end this week.

The regulations have made it easier for the United States to deport people who cross the border seeking asylum. Now people will have a better chance, and video from the border shows many migrants near that border waiting for the opportunity. NPR's Joel Rose is with us now with more. Good morning, Joel. Hi. So first of all, what has law enforcement said about the driver and about what happened in Brownsville?

Surveillance video shows an SUV crashing into a crowd at a bus stop in front of a shelter for migrants and the homeless in Brownsville on Sunday morning. Police have confirmed at least some of the deceased are migrants. They say the driver was immediately taken into custody and taken to a hospital where he was being treated for injuries. The police have ordered tests to see if the driver was intoxicated. They have not publicly identified him so far. Have the authorities said anything about whether this was an intentional act?

The driver has only been charged with reckless driving, but more charges may be coming. Lieutenant Martin Sandoval of the Brownsville Police Department said that the incident is, quote, looking more and more like an intentional act. So as we said, this incident comes at what seems to already be a tense moment at the U.S.-Mexico border. You've been reporting there. You've been talking to people on both sides. What are they telling you?

Nearly everyone expects a big jump in migration, at least in the short run, as these pandemic restrictions lift. Title 42 has blocked migrants from seeking asylum for several years now. So you have tens of thousands of desperate migrants all up and down the border, in border cities and in migrant camps. And, you know, they are waiting for a chance to seek asylum in the U.S. No one is quite sure how they're going to react on Thursday when these restrictions lift.

But already we are seeing some of them cross the border in pretty large numbers, straining the resources of immigration authorities and also of the local humanitarian groups and municipalities near the border. Is the Biden administration ready for this? A lot of its critics say no, especially Republicans and immigration hardliners. They say the administration's policies have led to record numbers of migrant apprehensions in recent years. They're urging the Biden administration to change course and extend Title 42 and

And it is not just Republicans who are concerned. Here's Kyrsten Sinema, the senator from Arizona, the former Democrat, now independent, speaking on CBS's Face the Nation yesterday. The Biden administration had two years to prepare for this and did not do so. And our state is going to bear the brunt. And migrants will be in crisis. It will be a humanitarian crisis because we are not prepared. And how does the administration respond to these critics?

Well, the White House disputes that. The administration says it has moved a lot of resources to the border, including 1,500 active duty troops who will be helping to support the Border Patrol. It's also moved a lot of money to border communities and humanitarian groups that may have to shelter and care for migrants.

Here is Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in Texas on Friday where he was overseeing preparations. Here's part of what he said. The border is not open. It has not been open and it will not be open subsequent to May 11th. Mayorkas says the administration plans to begin enforcing tough new restrictions on asylum this week that will make it much harder for migrants to get asylum if they cross the border illegally.

Mayorkas is urging migrants to use new legal pathways to apply for their own countries and not to make the dangerous journey to the U.S.-Mexico border. That is NPR's Joel Rose. Joel, thank you. You're welcome. Writer E. Jean Carroll says that former President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in the changing room of an upscale Manhattan department store about 28 years ago. And for the past week, her lawyers have been presenting evidence of the alleged rape and defamation to a jury.

Today, both sides have the chance to make their closing arguments in the civil case. NPR's Ilya Merits has been watching, and he's with us now to tell us more. Good morning. Good morning. Before we get into the closing arguments, you just remind us of what are the key elements of the case.

Well, there's a lot that this case does not have. There is no video evidence, no DNA, no direct witnesses besides E. Jean Carroll herself, the plaintiff. So her lawyers have tried to bolster her account with other kinds of witnesses and evidence. They've presented two friends of Carroll's who each said she told them about the assault right after it happened.

The jury also heard from two other women who also testified saying they were assaulted by Trump as well. And Carol's team has showed excerpts from a video deposition of Trump. If you remember, after Carol's allegation first broke a few years ago, Trump dismissed it saying,

quote, she's not my type, listen closely to what Trump says when he's shown a party photo of himself with E. Jean Carroll and is asked to identify her. He doesn't know who she is. I don't even know who the woman, let's see, I don't know who, it's Marla. You're saying Marla's in this photo? That's Marla, yeah, that's my wife. Which woman are you pointing to? No, it's Carol. Here.

The person you just pointed to was E. Jean Carroll. So we just heard him mistake his accuser for his second wife, Marla Maples. Perhaps that calls into question his statement that he didn't find Carroll attractive. So using Trump's words against him. But Trump's team tried to do the same thing with E. Jean Carroll. Tell us about that.

That's right. In cross-examination, Trump's lawyer pointed out inconsistencies in things Carol has said over the years about the alleged rape and the effect it had on her. They also pointed out Carol can't recall what year it happened. But what was really striking was their portrayal of Carol as a shady character. Trump lawyer Joseph Takapina said Carol was motivated by money and publicity. He told jurors they cannot let her profit from her abuse of this process and warned that she would try to deceive them.

So Donald Trump did not attend the trial, but he commented on it all through the week. How did the judge respond to that?

It played really badly with the judge. Right at the start of the trial, Judge Lewis Kaplan warned both teams that their clients and witnesses should not talk in the media and should particularly avoid words that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest. Trump flouted these instructions again and again. He posted to social media. He talked to reporters on camera. His lawyers basically said, hey, what can we do? He's Donald Trump. Over

Over the weekend, Carroll's attorneys complained to the judge saying Trump had not taken down two social media posts, despite his lawyer's pledge that he would. The danger here is that the jury could see some of this stuff and be influenced by it. So far, though, there have been no consequences. So what can we expect for the rest of the day? We expect closing arguments to take up most of the day. Then the judge will give the jury its instructions and they will begin to deliberate. Remember, this is civil, not criminal.

criminal court. So the standard of evidence for the assault allegation is preponderance of evidence, which is a lot less than for a criminal case where it's beyond a reasonable doubt. The potential damages here, if Trump is found liable, could run well into the millions of dollars.

Both sides have so much riding on the juror's decision. For all the legal hazards Trump faces at this moment, this one is in some ways the most personal. And if he is held liable for battery, and that's the legal term in this case, it'll be a kind of vindication not only for Carol, but for the many women who've accused Trump of sexual misconduct over the years. That is NPR's Ilya Merets. Ilya, thank you so much. You're very welcome.

And that's Up First for Monday, May 8th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Up First is produced by Ziad Butch, Claire Murashima, and Shelby Hawkins. Our editors are Mohamed El-Bardisi and Ali Schweitzer, and our technical director is Jay Sizz. Join us here tomorrow. Thanks for listening to Up First. You can find more in-depth coverage of the stories we talked about today and much more on NPR's Morning Edition, the radio show Steve Inskeep, Leila Fadl, A. Martinez, and I host.

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