VISITATION RIGHTS

El Paso Shooting Victims in Hospital Refused to Meet Trump: Report

Two patients who had already been released did come back to meet the president when he traveled to the area of the deadly weekend mass shooting.

None of the eight patients still under care at University Medical Center after being shot in an El Paso Walmart last weekend consented to a visit from President Donald Trump on Wednesday. The Washington Post reports that two of the injured victims did return with family members to greet the president. Ryan Mielke, spokesperson for University Medical Center, said that the patients were under no obligation to meet the president. “This is a very sensitive time in their lives,” Mielke said. “Some of them said they didn’t want to meet with the president. Some of them didn’t want any visitors.” Mielke did say that before Trump’s visit, many of the hospitalized patients accepted visits from local elected officials and Democratic lawmakers.