Tom Homan fumes at protester who called him racist during clash at TPUSA event: ‘Grow a backbone’

White House border czar Tom Homan on Thursday erupted at a heckler who called him a “racist” during his speech at an event hosted by Turning Point USA on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso.

Homan was speaking about immigration enforcement operations when an event attendee shouted “racist” and “traitor” at him.

“Call me what you want, I don’t care,” Homan responded.

“Why don’t you grow a backbone, put a Kevlar vest and a gun on your hip and go secure this border?” he added.

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Later, as Homan was answering questions from the crowd, a man who appeared to be the earlier heckler suggested Patrick Crusius, the gunman in the 2019 shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, was inspired by Homan and his comments supporting the Great Replacement Theory, which is a far-right belief purporting that there is a plot to replace white populations with non-white immigrants.

“Patrick Crusius, your everyday conservative, drove hundreds of miles to our city based on your belief that Hispanics are replacing the white race of white people and we need a scare to deter Hispanics from coming into the country,” the protester said, alleging that “the Great Replacement is now a mainstream conservative narrative.”

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The protester further claimed that it has been “fully integrated into mainstream media.”

“To be honest, what I said was the open border was an action, was a mess, and it was by design,” Homan said.

Homan has alleged that the Biden administration intentionally left the southern border unsecured to create new and permanent bloc of Democratic voters, although he admitted in a congressional hearing that he does not have evidence to support this claim.

Crusius was sentenced earlier this year to life without parole after he pleaded guilty to state charges in connection with the Walmart shooting, in which 23 people were killed and 22 others were wounded. He also pleaded guilty to 90 federal murder and hate crime charges in 2023 and was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences.

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The gunman left his grandparents’ house in Allen, Texas, and drove roughly 650 miles to El Paso to carry out the shooting.

His manifesto included white nationalist and anti-immigrant themes. The manifesto cited the Great Replacement Theory as part of his inspiration for the shooting.