March Madness is back: Tracking UConn basketball, Houston, Arizona: March Madness Sweet 16 schedule, game time

Beware of lack of courtroom security: Reader

El Paso Times
Accused El Paso Walmart mass shooter Patrick Crusius is arraigned Thursday, October, 10, 2019 in the 409th state District Court with Judge Sam Medrano presiding. Crusius, a 21-year-old male from Allen, Texas, stands accused of killing 22 and injuring 25 in the Aug. 3 mass shooting at an East El Paso Walmart in the seventh deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history and third deadliest in Texas.

More:Watch: El Paso shooter Patrick Crusius appears in court

Beware of lack of courtroom security

Leave it to our District Attorney Jaime Esparza and the Sheriff’s Office to use no common sense  when it comes to proper courtroom etiquette or public safety.

Arraignment of a known shooter who killed 22 people at Walmart and no handcuffs? No restraints of any kind?  

Most judges across the United States, and up until now in El Paso, would not have allowed such a lack of courtroom safety for the public.

Leave it to our Esparza and Sheriff Richard Wiles to make a judgment call and leave this individual's hands free. Think about that just for a second — just what if?

And it takes over two months to bring this individual before a judge for arraignment? At the pace Esparza is taking, true to his track record, it will be years before a trial in this case.

Only in El Paso!

Sid H. Searcy

East El Paso

More:El Paso shooting update: Here are five things to know

Where are the Parkland, Irvin T-shirts?

I noticed that the Trans Mountain Road Walmart carries the local Northeast high school T-shirts, mostly Andress High School and some Irvin High School T-shirts. The Northeast Walmart does not carry any Parkland High School T-shirts. Walmart, where are the Parkland High School T-shirts?

Albertsons on Kenworthy only carries Andress High School T-shirts also? Albertsons, where are the Irvin and Parkland High School T-shirts?

We have three high schools in Northeast El Paso.

Susie Shelton

Northeast El Paso

More:El Paso County District Court approves temporary demolition ban for Duranguito neighborhood

Bond approval was for a package of projects

With regard to the constant assertions that the voters overwhelmingly supported the Multipurpose Performing Arts and Entertainment Center, most recently by City Attorney Karla Nieman as reported in “Temporary Demo Ban on Duranguito” (Oct. 8, 2019): What the voters approved was a package of projects. If you wanted a children’s museum to replace the one the city destroyed in order to build the ballpark, or a cultural heritage center, you had to vote for the whole package. Very clever of the organizers! 

And the vote was for improvements, repeat, improvements, not for any new Multipurpose Performing Arts and Entertainment Center — with or without sports. The only city structure that could be considered a multipurpose center for improvement is the Abraham Chavez Theatre, which still desperately needs that improvement.

Marshall Carter-Tripp

West El Paso

Keep up with El Paso news. Get a digital subscription to the elpasotimes.com.

Congress should deal with real issues

I did not and would not vote for Donald Trump for any office. That said, I find my party's obsession with his impeachment totally ridiculous. It reminds me of elementary students running to a teacher tattling on someone for some trivial reason.

The House might vote to impeach. That action is similar to that of a grand jury finding reason an accused might be involved in a crime and indicts that person to go to trial. The Senate then becomes judge and jury of the impeachment process. The chance of this Senate finding Trump guilty of an impeachable offense is nil, as well it should.

Meanwhile, the nation's infrastructures are crumbling. Congress needs to stop its childish behavior and address the real issues facing our nation.

Jim Tweedle

West El Paso

More:El Paso lawyer and defender of civil rights, Enrique Moreno, passed away Thursday

How long will Walmart keep security?

A family that survived the El Paso shooting is suing Walmart for failing to provide security to its customers. In the lawsuit, the family of four stated that the retail store had an obligation to provide security and protection and had failed to do so. The father was hospitalized and has gone through multiple surgeries in the past month and has since been released to his family.

At the time of the shooting, Walmart did not have any security guard on duty and that might have resulted in the massacre that has affected many families. As of this moment, Walmart has implemented security guards and a police officer in every Walmart for a temporary time. It should not be temporary: It should be mandatory.

As a citizen, you should be able to feel safe and not have to worry about what might happen. Many citizens have been wondering how long security is going to be in place and if there is a possibility that a new set of rules is going to be mandatory for every Walmart across the United States.

With Walmart being remodeled and opening soon, it makes you think if this horrific event might have an impact or if it’s just another shooting that everybody is going to forget.

Carlos Garcia

Lower Valley