A Dallas man was sentenced Wednesday to 37 years in prison for killing one person and injuring several others at a car shop in 2015, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas announced in a news release.
Anthony Paz Torres, 39, pleaded guilty last September to five counts of federal hate crimes for targeting the Muslim-owned Omar's Wheels and Tires on Buckner Boulevard, according to the release. NBC 5 reported he killed 25-year-old Enrique Garcia-Mendoza and shot one person in the chest, while others were left with minor injuries.
“As this sentence makes clear, hate crimes fueled by Islamophobia, or by bias of any kind, will be met with the full force of the Justice Department,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. “No person in this country should have to live in fear because of who they are, what they look like, or how they pray.”
According to the statement, court documents show Torres admitted he went to the shop a few days before the Dec. 24, 2015 shooting, made Islamophobic comments and promised to come back. When he returned, he asked customers if they were Muslim, and shop employees escorted him back to his vehicle.
Torres then repeatedly fired his .40 semiautomatic Glock in the direction of people at the shop, according to the indictment. He was charged with hate crimes for killing Garcia-Mendoza and attempting to kill others. Authorities said he admitted he believed they were Muslim.
“North Texans come from a variety of religious traditions and backgrounds, and no one should have to live in fear because of the way they worship,” U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton for the Northern District of Texas said in a statement.
KERA News could not immediately reach Torres' attorneys for comment Wednesday.
The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations shared a news release on Torres' sentencing Thursday morning.
"We welcome the sentencing of this individual who, motivated by hatred and bigotry, took an innocent life and, had he been ‘successful,’ would have taken more," Executive Director Mustafaa Carroll said in a statement. "We pray that God grants the victim who lost his life entry into Paradise, and we pray that He grants the victims’ families solace and strength.”
According to CAIR's 2024 Civil Rights Report, the national group received 8,061 complaints about anti-Muslim discrimination last year, the highest in its 30-year history.
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