Right-Wing Death Squads & Radicalization: What Led to the Allen Massacre?

A Normal Day Turns into a Nightmare

On May 6, 2023, a man dressed head-to-toe in black pulled up to an outlet mall in Allen, Texas. No hesitation, no buildup—just cold, deliberate action. The second his foot hit the pavement, he raised his gun and started shooting.

There was no pattern, no target. Just bullets flying toward anyone in range. People scrambled, diving behind displays, ducking into storage rooms. Mall employees, suddenly thrust into the role of makeshift first responders, guided strangers to whatever cover they could find.

It lasted four minutes.

Four minutes in which fifteen people were shot. Eight never made it out, including three children. Among the seven survivors were parents who lost their children and children who lost their entire families.

Chaos, Carnage, and a Military Veteran’s Fight to Save Lives

Amid the horror, one military veteran on the scene didn’t hesitate. He dropped to his knees and started performing CPR, trying to keep victims alive. Later, he would recall that many of the wounded were so badly injured, they couldn’t even be treated on the spot. They needed hospitals, fast.

The Off-Duty Officer Who Stepped In

Then, a break in the nightmare—if you could even call it that. An off-duty police officer happened to be at the mall. No backup, no waiting—just a trained officer with his own weapon moving toward the gunfire while panicked 911 calls flooded dispatch.

And when he saw the shooter? He fired. Three shots—ear, arm, mouth. That last one ended it. The shooter went down before he could take more lives.

The Search for Answers

Now, the death toll stood at nine, including the shooter himself. And with him gone, so was any chance of a confession. No interrogation, no courtroom cross-examination—just a pile of chaos left behind for investigators to sift through.

They had to work backward, following the trail of public records and digital footprints, trying to answer the one question that mattered most: Why?

Who Was Mauricio Martinez Garcia?

The shooter was identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Martinez Garcia, but figuring out what led him to that moment wasn’t so simple. He had no criminal record. Nothing to suggest he’d been planning something this violent.

The earliest red flag? 2008. At 18, Mauricio joined the military and completed basic training. But before he could move forward—before he even got to weapons training—he was discharged over concerns about his mental health. Since he hadn’t committed any crimes, nothing about his discharge made its way into any official record.

After that, his life became a string of jobs, one leading to the next without much direction. Eventually, he landed work as a security guard—a job that required him to undergo weapons training. That training, plus the time he spent at shooting ranges (as seen in his social media posts), gave him the skills he would eventually use to take innocent lives.

The Diary That Revealed His Descent

At the time of the shooting, Mauricio had been living in a motel. When investigators searched his room, they found a diary.

Now, you might expect something obvious—some angry, hate-fueled manifesto spelling out his reasons in black and white. But that wasn’t the case. His diary wasn’t a confession. It wasn’t even a blueprint for violence.

Instead, it was a slow-motion unraveling.

Page by page, post by post, investigators traced Mauricio’s decline—his mind twisting, his thoughts turning darker. They followed his path straight into the depths of extreme far-right radicalization. Not overnight, not all at once, but step by step, thought by thought, until it led him to that mall, that gun, that decision.

A Diary of a Disturbed Mind

Mauricio Martinez Garcia didn’t just keep a diary—he published it. Over 300 pages of his handwritten thoughts made their way onto Odnoklassniki (OK), a Russian social media site, where he meticulously uploaded each page one by one.

And in those pages? A mix of the mundane and the unhinged.

He ranted about former bosses and coworkers, detailing the imaginary fights he wished he’d had with people who crossed him on the street. Then, just as casually, he’d write about concerts, parties, and past relationships.

Women were a frequent subject. Some he’d been with, some he’d only wished he had. His diary included graphic descriptions of nurses he encountered in the hospital, recounting how their attention toward him had aroused him to the point of masturbating to the memory.

But underneath it all was an unraveling.

The Spiral Into Hate

His thoughts shifted between self-loathing and blame. In one entry, he lamented becoming an incel—a term used by men who believe they are involuntarily celibate because of women’s rejection. In another, he expressed resentment toward his own Hispanic community, writing about how he once wished he was white because his own race had treated him poorly.

From there, his diary became a manifesto of resentment, critiquing the Hispanic community’s stance on poverty, politics, and racial dynamics. With every entry, he drifted further into radicalization, spiraling into the dark corners of extremist ideology.

At some point, something in him broke—though when, exactly, is hard to say.

The RWDS Patch and the Symbolism of Hate

When Mauricio stepped out of his car that day, he was wearing a tactical vest with a patch reading “RWDS”—an acronym for Right Wing Death Squad. This wasn’t some random edgy phrase. It was a reference to paramilitary death squads from 1970s Latin America, infamous for their brutal executions of left-wing dissidents. Victims were loaded onto helicopters and thrown to their deaths in what were called “death flights.”

Today, extremist groups idolize RWDS and what it stood for. And Mauricio wasn’t just wearing the patch—he was living the ideology.

His vest wasn’t the only clue. Two Neo-Nazi tattoos were inked onto his body, and on his OK profile, he’d shared photos of them alongside rants against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab people, as well as an increasing disdain for women.

The Planning: A Massacre in the Making

Mauricio Garcia’s attack on the Allen Premium Outlets was anything but spontaneous; it was the result of meticulous planning and chilling foresight.

Detailed Reconnaissance

Weeks before the shooting, Garcia conducted thorough reconnaissance of the mall. He posted numerous photographs of the building and its parking lot on his profile on Odnoklassniki (OK), a Russian social media site, on April 16, 2023. These posts included screenshots of Google geo-location information, indicating he had previously visited the mall on May 14, 2022, January 7, 2023, and April 15, 2023. He also shared screenshots showing the mall’s busiest times and an indoor map of the facility. 

Arsenal Accumulation

Garcia’s preparations extended to amassing a significant arsenal. He had at least four different pistols, two assault rifles, a pump-action shotgun, and large amounts of ammunition. A digital receipt indicated that he had purchased more firearms in the year leading up to the attack.

Final Preparations

Just 24 minutes before initiating the attack, Garcia sent links to his YouTube and OK profiles to a rock singer. Prior to this, these accounts had been private, with no followers or friends, suggesting a deliberate move to publicize his extremist views. 

This calculated approach underscores that Garcia’s actions were not merely an outburst of violence but a premeditated attempt to inflict maximum harm and achieve notoriety.

The Numbers Tell a Grim Story

The Allen mall shooting wasn’t an isolated incident; it was part of a disturbing pattern in Texas and across the United States.

A State Under Siege

In 2023, Texas experienced a surge in gun violence. The state had the second-highest number of mass shootings in the country, with only California reporting more.

A Nation in Crisis

Nationally, the numbers were equally alarming. By December 2023, the United States had endured 39 mass shootings, surpassing previous records.

A Call for Action

In the aftermath of the Allen shooting, President Joe Biden addressed the nation, stating, “Thoughts and prayers are not enough.” He urged Congress to pass an assault weapons ban and implement universal background checks.

A Stalemate on Gun Legislation

Despite these calls for action, legislative changes remained elusive. The political landscape continued to hinder significant reforms, leaving communities vulnerable to future tragedies.

A Community in Mourning

The Allen community, like many others before it, was left to grapple with the aftermath. Local leaders expressed their grief and solidarity, emphasizing the need for collective healing.

The Allen mall shooting serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges posed by gun violence in America. It underscores the urgency for comprehensive solutions to address this persistent and devastating issue.