Nearly six months after a gunman slaughtered 22 people inside a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, a federal grand jury has indicted 21-year-old white supremacist Patrick Crusius on 90 counts, including hate crimes charges.

Taking note of Crusius manifesto, the government alleges that Crusius killed the victims because of their actual or perceived national origin. Denver-based attorney David Lane will reportedly represent him in federal court. The suspected gunman was already facing state capital murder charges in connection with the Aug. 3 shooting. Crusius allegedly posted a four-page anti-immigrant manifesto before the attack and after his arrest told police that hed been targeting Mexicans .

The shooting clearly meets the federal definition of domestic terrorism , and John Bash, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, previously said his office was treating it as an act of domestic terrorism. But theres no federal criminal statute that broadly outlaws acts of domestic terrorism, which means that Crusius like the killers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina; at the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia; and at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh isnt facing specific terrorism-related charges.

A group of FBI agents is urging Congress to pass a domestic terrorism statute , but the effort faces opposition from civil liberties organizations who worry that federal law enforcement would use such authority to improperly target members of disfavored political groups.