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Mo News: Racist Massacre in Buffalo
Mosheh Oinounou
May 16, 2022
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Hi everyone,
Here's what we're watching this week:
Buffalo grocery store attack : What we know about the victims and the shooter's ideology.
Lawmakers set to grill the FDA about the baby formula shortage.
Primary Preview: Will Trump-backed candidates continue to win key GOP primaries?
What's really behind Elon Musk putting his deal to buy Twitter "on hold?"
Steph Curry has officially graduated college.
And as always, let's start this week on the right foot with some Good Mood Monday!
See you tonight at 9pmET on the weekly Mondays with Mosh Instagram Live, where Mosh will take all your questions.
~ Mosh & Jill
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🚨 MASS SHOOTER TARGETED BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD
From a NY Times reporter talking to residents on Buffalo's east side.
On Saturday, an 18-year-old gunman who reportedly wrote an extensive 180-page racist manifesto opened fire at a Buffalo supermarket, killing 10 people and wounding three. The rifle used in the attack had a racial epithet scrawled on it along with the number 14, a white supremacist numeric symbol. ~ Axios
"This was pure evil... [The shooting was a] "straight up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community." ~ Erie County Sheriff John C. Garcia.
The Shooter: Payton Gendron of Conklin, NY has been arraigned on first-degree murder charges. Officials say he drove more than 200 miles to a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, NY to carry out his attack. He wore tactical gear and carried an assault weapon, and live streamed the shooting on the Twitch video platform (the company says it stopped the stream after about 2 minutes). ~CNNNY Governor Kathy Hochul says the alleged shooter researched the area and picked that zip code in Buffalo because it has "the highest concentration of African-Americans by zip code."Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said that he may also pursue a domestic terrorism charges against Gendron. ~Fox News
Replacement Theory: Two days before the shooting, the suspect posted an apparent manifesto citing the racist "Great Replacement" theory. It includes pages of antisemitic and racist memes. The conspiracy theory falsely claims there is a plot to "replace" white people in America with nonwhites through immigration, interracial marriage and, eventually, violence. Far-right extremists believe it to be part of an elaborate Jewish plot. The Washington Post has a write up on the history of the theory and how it has inspired other violent acts. ~ NBC NewsIn the manifesto, Gendron writes that he was radicalized on 4chan when he was “bored” at the start of the pandemic.By the Numbers: This is deadliest mass shooting of 2022 so far. But just 19 weeks into the year, it's also 198th mass shooting; that's an average of about 10 such attacks a week, according to Gun Violence Archive. ~ NPRWhite House Reaction: President Biden and the first lady will travel to Buffalo on Tuesday to mourn with the community. On Sunday, he said the Justice Department is investigating the matter as a hate crime. "As they do, we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America," he added. ~WIVB
The Victims: We're learning a bit more about the victims, including retired police officer Aaron Salter, who's being called a hero for trying to stop the gunman, Pearly Young, who ran a food pantry, and Deacon Heyward "Tenny" Patterson, who would often drive people to the supermarket if they needed transportation. ~ WGRZ Buffalo
🍼 BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE: WHAT'S NEXT?
via Axios
Federal lawmakers will have a chance to ask direct questions about the state of the baby formula shortage when the FDA Commissioner, Robert Califf, testifies before a U.S. House Agricultural subcommittee this Thursday.
Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee sent letters to the heads of four baby formula companies who control 90% of the US market-- Mead Johnson Nutrition, Nestlé USA, Perrigo Company and Abbott Nutrition-- asking when they knew about the shortage and what they're doing to increase supply and lower prices. ~ NBC News"It is critical that your company take all possible steps to increase the supply of formula and prevent price gouging."
Last week the Biden Administration announced steps to address the shortage, including reducing red tape, speeding formula production and making it easier to import formula from abroad.
** For more information about the formula shortage, and tips on how to navigate this crisis, check out our Premium Mo News Edition in which we interviewed @TheFormulaMom.**
🗳 BIG PRIMARY ELECTION WEEK
Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania will hold their primary elections on Tuesday. It will likely be another test of how important former President Trump's endorsement is for Republican candidates.
Pennsylvania: Trump has backed celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz for the Pennsylvania Senate seat--but conservative commentator Kathy Barnette is now surging in the polls. Oz, Barnette and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick are all in a dead heat.Trying to drum up some last minute support for Oz, Trump says Barnette “will never be able to win” in a general election matchup against Democrats. She's come under fire for past anti-Islam and bigoted tweets, which Barnette says are "incomplete thoughts" and being taken out of context. ~ US NewsThis is an open seat with current Republican Senator Pat Toomey retiring. Analysts say it's Democrats' best chance at picking up a seat in the evenly-divided Senate. There was some drama this weekend as the leader in the Democratic primary polls, Lt Gov John Fetterman, announced Sunday that he had a stroke. ~NBC News
Trump's track record: Trump-endorsed candidate J.D. Vance won the GOP Ohio Senate primary a few weeks ago. And his candidate also won a House primary in West Virginia. But in Nebraska, Trump-backed candidate for governor, Charles Herbster lost to Jim Pillen. ~ NY Times
Other Races: Here's a look at all the "Midterm Drama" that may play out on Tuesday, courtesy of Axios.
🚀 ELON & TWITTER: DEAL OR NO DEAL?
Talk about mixed signals. This week we could get some clarity on whether Elon Musk is in fact still planning to buy Twitter. On Friday, Musk tweeted that $44 billion deal was "on hold" while his team figures out if Twitter is underreporting the number of bots or fake accounts on the platform. [Twitter has estimated that fake accounts make up less than 5% of its users.] ~ Bloomberg
What now? Musk later tweeted that he's "still committed to acquisition." But analysts say this could could be Musk's way to try to get out of the deal. (He would still have to pay a $1 billion breakup fee.) The other possibility is that Musk is trying to negotiate a lower price, with stocks crashing in the last few weeks and companies losing value (including both Twitter and Tesla.)
🗞 THE SPEED READ
The surprise visit by McConnell, who was accompanied by three other Republican senators, comes as the Senate is working to pass a $40 billion emergency military and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine. It follows a string of other clandestine visits, including by the first lady, Jill Biden, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The trip, a rare international visit for McConnell, highlights the widespread bipartisan support for Ukraine in Washington. (NY Times)
The leaders of Finland and Sweden have confirmed they intend to join NATO, signifying a historic Nordic policy shift triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that will redraw the security map of Europe. Abandoning decades of military non-alignment, the two countries’ governments will present their proposals to their respective parliaments on Monday. (The Guardian)
Supermarkets, malls and restaurants in Shanghai will be allowed to open in a limited capacity starting Monday, officials said, even while it remained unclear whether residents would be let out from their homes. City residents are waiting cautiously to see how the new measures will actually play out. Although the city's official total lockdown began at the end of March, many have been stuck in their homes for longer. (ABC News)
"We will continue trying to expand our beautiful family," Britney Spears and her partner, Sam Asghari, wrote in a joint statement. "This is a devastating time for any parent. Perhaps we should have waited to announce until we were further along, however we were overly excited to shared the good news."
On Sunday, Davidson College announced Curry has officially graduated from the university 13 years after leaving. Curry left Davidson with a year remaining in his college eligibility to enter the 2009 NBA draft. According to the school, he was one semester away from officially graduating and completed the classes during this year’s spring semester. While he will not attend graduation, he is listed as one of the graduates this year. (SI.com)
☀️ GOOD MOOD MONDAY
Check out the grit on this runner! Talaya Crawford lost her sneaker at the beginning of a race but instead of just giving up, she put the shoe back on and ran faster than ever. Reminder: It's not what happens to you, it's how you react to it.
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[Top Banner Picture Credit: Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]