Donald Trump’s administration had previously taken steps to cut programmes aimed at identifying and fighting far-right extremism or white nationalism, an apparent motive that inspired the shooter who opened fire in El Paso, Texas, over the weekend.

In the aftermath of that shooting on Saturday that left 22 dead, a debate surrounding domestic extremism has bubbled to the top of American discourse, with many denouncing Mr Trump’s rhetoric as a racist dog whistle encouraging white nationalists and supremacists

And, even as the president on Monday denounced white supremacy and hatred, residents of El Paso and terrorism experts have questioned the administration’s 2017 decision to cut funding for the Obama-era Countering Violent Extremism Programme, which allocated $10 million to fight the kinds of domestic extremism seen this past weekend, and other measures.

“I think, clearly, the events of this last weekend, and the events of the last several years have shown that writ-large not enough is being done to counter violent extremists and right-wing violent extremists,” Colin Clarke, a senior researcher and terrorism expert with the Soufan Centre, told The Independent.

“Even if you step away from the data, anecdotally, this is a pretty steady drumbeat since Charlottesville,” he continued, referring to the demonstrations in Virginia in 2017 in which a white supremacist killed a young woman.

El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Show all 39 1 /39 El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store CCTV images of the gunman identified as Patrick Crusius The 21 year old, as he entered the Cielo Vista Walmart store in El Paso. The gunman was armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on shoppers at a packed Walmart store, killing 20. KTSM 9/AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement agencies respond The Texas city’s police chief said the assault on a Walmart store on Saturday, which left another 26 people wounded, was being investigated as a potential hate crime. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up Shoppers exit with their hands up after a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 3, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Salgado NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. STRINGER Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store FBI released a picture of gunman Patrick Crusius The police officially identified the 21-year-old white male from Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb some 650 miles east of El Paso. FBI/AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman reacts after the mass shooting The attack came just minutes after a far-right manifesto appeared online. If authentic, it would make it the third mass shooting this year announced in advance on the website, which often features far-right and racist content. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement responds to the active shooter The racist four-page document, titled “The Inconvenient Truth”, calls the Walmart attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and expresses support for the gunman who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this year. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A shopper hiding with an old lady behind the return and exchanges counter as the shooting began. Aaron Castaneda/Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Ambulances in the car park near the scene It is ranked as the eighth-deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, after a 1984 shooting in San Ysidro, California, that claimed 21 lives. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Kendall Long (left) comforts Kianna Long (right) who was in the freezer section of Walmart. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store epa07755367 Police stand at attention after a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, USA, 03 August 2019. According to reports, at least one person was killed and at least 18 people injured and transported to local hospitals. One suspect is in custody. EPA/IVAN PIERRE AGUIRRE IVAN PIERRE AGUIRRE EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shopping carts sit next to a curb after the shooting. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso Fire Medical personnel arrive at the scene. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Walmart employees react after. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman runs to police near the scene. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Several law enforcement agencies respond. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People arrive at MacArthur Elementary looking for family and friends as the school is being used a re-unification centre. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Residents Erica Rios, 36, and Alma Rios, 61, cry outside a reunification centre. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People gather in Juarez, Mexico, in a vigil for the Mexican nationals who were killed. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A child takes part in a vigil in Ciudad Juarez AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Francisco Castaneda joins mourners taking part in a vigil at El Paso High School. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Presidential candidate and former congressman Beto O'Rourke, right, meets with mass shooting survivor, Rosemary, at University Medical Centre Beto O'Rourke Facebook via AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store From left, Melody Stout, Hannah Payan, Aaliyah Alba, Sherie Gramlich and Laura Barrios comfort each other during a vigil for victims of the shooting. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A sign is posted near the scene Getty Images El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Police cars parked below the Walmart sign block a road outside while investigating. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Sherie Gramlich reacts during a vigil. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A man places flowers at the site Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People take part in a rally against hate a day after a mass shooting at the Walmart store Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Lupe Lopez holds a picture of a victim during a vigil for victims AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People take part in a rally against hate a day after a mass shooting at a Walmart store, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ REUTERS El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Elsa Mendoza Marquez, a Mexican schoolteacher who was married and the mother of two adult children, was one of the victims Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People with the Mexican flag and the US flag take part in a rally against hate a day Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People raise their arms in the air during a vigil for victims AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People react and embrace each other Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Women light candles at a make shift memorial at the site of a mass shooting EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Adria Gonzalez (centre) who is being hailed as a hero for leading some Walmart customers to safety, speaks to the crowd AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People hold up their phones AFP/Getty Images El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Beto O'Rourke speaks to the crowd AFP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People react during a prayer and candle vigil organized by the city, after a shooting left 20 people dead at the Cielo Vista Mall WalMart in El Paso, Texas, on August 4, 2019. - A shooting at a Walmart store in Texas left multiple people dead. At least one suspect was taken into custody after the shooting in the border city of El Paso, triggering fear and panic among weekend shoppers as well as widespread condemnation. It was the second fatal shooting in less than a week at a Walmart store in the US and comes after a mass shooting in California last weekend. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images MARK RALSTON AFP/Getty

In addition to ending that 2016 programme, the Trump administration halted more than $1.3 million in grants to organisations dedicated to fighting online extremism, and to helping neo-Nazis hoping to reform.

Those actions came as America experienced a spike in the number of far-right extremist attacks, from two incidents in 2007, to 31 in 2017. And, just last month, FBI director Cristopher Wray testified that white supremacism made up the majority of domestic terrorism cases his agency faces.

“I will say that a majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we’ve investigated are motived by some version of what you might call white supremacist violence, but it does include other things as well,” Mr Wray said during testimony before the Senate judiciary committee.

Donald Trump told he's not welcome in El Paso by representative Veronica Escobar

It’s an issue that has been on the minds of those in El Paso as the city begins to heal after the Saturday shooting, with residents of the Texas city urging Mr Trump to reinstate the Obama-era measures that could potentially combat the kinds of extremism that has landed the city in the middle of that latest American tragedy.

That includes Evelyn Shelton, a student of forensic science at the University of Texas at El Paso, who was with a friend on Monday looking at the wall of flowers and crosses that have been placed overlooking the Walmart shopping centre where the shooing took place.

“It’s really upsetting that he wanted to talk about immigration. Immigration is not the problem here,” Ms Shelton said of Mr Trump’s response to the shooting

Asked about the anti-domestic terror schemes, she said: “If we have groups that have hatred towards certain groups they should be monitored.”

Her friend, Yerian Antonetty, 19, who is studying psychology, said she had seen the president’s tweets. “People are grieving, and he should not be trying to benefit from it,” she said.

Of the Obama-era schemes, she said: “It’s something that should be funded. A lot of these people are violent, and there are certain [people] they don’t want around.”

Another mourner, Ursula Breckinbridge, 77, said she agreed with the president that mental health was an issue, but that fighting extremism appears to be a real issue facing America.

“He had to be mentally ill,” she said of Saturday’s shooter. “You can’t be shooting at people like that if you were in a normal state.”

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Asked about whether the president should be targeting white extremists, she said: “I don’t want to speak badly of the president but, yes, it’s something he should do.”