EL PASO -- Days after the massacre directed at Latinos across the country, a supporter of President Donald J. Trump allegedly armed with a gun and knife was briefly detained in front of a migrant community center, putting an already grieving city further on edge.

The incident, following the shooting deaths at a Walmart here that claimed the lives of 22 people and left about two dozen injured, has residents in this heavily Mexican American community wary of being targeted.

Police spokesman Robert Gomez said Thursday that a "suspicious subject" was "detained and interviewed released" because he was carrying his firearm legally. He would not elaborate.

The 21-year-old drove his pickup -- plastered with a Rambo-like image of President Donald J. Trump carrying a large weapon -- from Houston for Trump's trip to the city on Wednesday. He was parked outside the center when police detained him. In the back window was a campaign poster for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Zebulon Green of the Casa Carmelita community center confirmed the incident took place just after Air Force One departed following Trump's visit to this city.

A social media page post attributed to Casa Carmelita said, "In the wake of the mass shooting at Walmart this Saturday, the police, when we asked clear questions concerning our safety, repeatedly told us that 'he has rights.'"

Under current state law, openly carrying a long gun, such as an AR-15, is legal, although a permit is needed to carry a handgun.

“It's Texas and there's concealed carry,” Gomez said. “There's open carry so there are citizens with guns all over El Paso and Texas.”

El Paso, for years one of the safest cities in the country, has been subject to derisive language by Trump before. The city has served as a punching bag for Trump, exemplified by among other measures, separating families. Trump said the city had long been dangerous before a border wall went up alongside the Rio Grande between the U.S. and Mexico. He’s also referred to Mexicans as “rapists” and “criminals” and slammed migrants seeking asylum, describing their numbers an “invasion.”

Many people interviewed here, including relatives and friends some of the victims, say they believe those words inspire White Supremacists.

In the wake of the mass shooting, migrant shelters and advocacy organizations are tightening security even more. Some will receive active shooter response.

The unease is particularly acute among immigrant rights advocates like Marissa Limon of the Hope Border Institute.

“This is nothing new, but the stakes are even higher now,” said Limon, describing the increased presence of militias, supporters of a private border wall and an array of bloggers with right wing agendas. “I don’t want to say that this will never happen again because the conditions are there. It’s been like that for so long. Now, it’s just a new level.

“Just look at what happened in El Paso and in Mississippi yesterday,” she added, referring to the almost 700 immigrants detained Wednesday in processing plants near Jackson, Miss., in a raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“It’s open season against Latinos and immigrants,” Limon added. “People can’t afford to be passive anymore.”

At Washington Park, several volunteers were out registering people to do just that.

“Voting is our best and only defense,” said Kirstin Perez, 32.

Near her were El Pasoans Ron Stallworth, author of the 2014 memoir Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime, and his wife Patsy. The book details Stallworth's work as an undercover police officer investigating Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. It was adapted into the 2018 film, Blackkklansman.

“What I experienced 40 years ago with David Duke has found a resurgence in Donald Trump,” said Stallworth, who like many in the city finds remarkable similarities between White Supremacists and the president’s rhetoric about Mexicans, immigrants and minorities for inspiring hate crimes.

“That is what’s really shocking and scary about this whole thing,” he said.

Across the city and region, the mourning is deepening as the funerals get underway here and across the border in Ciudad Juarez and beyond. Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke crossed into Juarez on Thursday to pay his respects and offer city and state officials, including Chihuahua Gov. Javier Corral, his condolences. Eight of the victims were Mexican nationals.

At the makeshift memorial, the national spotlight from Saturday’s shootings is gone, but the number of locals arriving with flowers and rosaries remains steady. Amid the heartache, some locals are trying to find solace and a sense of normalcy in the small tasks.

As tax free weekend nears -- just days before schools open -- nerves are frayed. Claudia Olivares and her 8-year-old son were looking for binders, crayons and folders at a store. She looked warily at strangers.

“It was good to see an armed guard here,” she said, as she walked into Target. “I want to believe we’ll go back to normal, but I don’t know that we ever will, if you’re Mexican American. We’re all on edge.”