Tuesday, May 17 top stories
It is Tuesday, May 17. Here are today’s top stories.
Biden visits Buffalo, updates on suspect
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited Buffalo to honor the 10 people who died in the supermarket shooting on Saturday. Biden said the shooting was an act of racist terrorism and that white supremacy is a poison.
News reports say the 18-year-old shooting suspect posted on social media platforms Discord and 4chan for months that he was planning an attack against the Black community in Buffalo. The suspect was pulled out of high school last year because he said in a school project that he wanted to commit a murder-suicide, was sent to a mental health evaluation, and was released. He did not have any record of this incident in his background and that’s why he was able to purchase guns.
His social media posts also showed the suspect admired the Christchurch, New Zealand shooter and the El Paso Walmart shooter. His gun was written with racist remarks and had one sentence that said, “Here’s your reparations,” referring to the concept of making financial payments for slavery in the past. He basically said the gun was repayment. The shooter believed that white Americans were being replaced by people of color and was angry about it.
The family of one of the victims, Ruth Whitfield, said they want our nation’s leaders to do more to fight white supremacy and limit access to guns.
Updates on California church shooting
Here is some more information on the California church shooting on Sunday. Authorities said the gunman, David Chou, was a “Chinese immigrant motivated by hate for Taiwanese.” Chou drove from his hometown of Las Vegas to Southern California and opened fire on a Taiwanese congregation who were gathered for a luncheon, killing one person and injuring several others. Authorities said Chou was “upset about political tensions between China and Taiwan.”
The one person who was killed was Dr. John Cheng, a 52-year-old family and sports doctor. He is hailed as a hero for charging at the gunman. He was shot three times, but his actions seemed to have an effect as other churchgoers were able to swarm at the gunman and tie him up.
Baby formula shortage
There is an ongoing shortage of baby formula in the U.S. The FDA said it would work to make it easier to import formulas from other countries and that it has reached an agreement with Abbott, a formula manufacturer in Michigan, to resume production within two weeks.
The production was halted in February after four infants were sickened with bacterial infections with two of them dying. There was a nationwide recall and the disruption in production has greatly contributed to the nationwide formula shortage.
Although production at Abbott will resume, the formula will not be available on shelves until about six to eight weeks later.
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Florida’s new law banning protests in front of homes
Florida’s Gov. DeSantis signed a bill into law to ban protests that take place in front of a person’s home.
The law says that if protesters at a private residence ignore law enforcement’s orders to disperse, they can be arrested and charged with a second-degree misdemeanor with penalties of up to 60 days in jail and fines of up to $500.
DeSantis said the law is aimed at preventing protests similar to recent protests in the D.C. area that took place in front of the residences of conservative Supreme Court justices.
AP News said some Democrats opposed the bill by saying it infringes on people’s First Amendment rights.
U.S. traffic deaths at highest level in 16 years
The Department of Transportation said it estimates that 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the U.S. in 2021. It is the highest number of traffic fatalities in 16 years. Texas had the most deaths, followed by California and Florida.
Axios said experts believe the main causes are an increase in dangerous driving and roads that are designed for speed instead of safety.
FDA approves Pfizer boosters for ages 5-11
The FDA authorized booster doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Children in this age range can get their first booster shot at least five months after completing the first two shots. The CDC will need to give a green light before booster doses can be rolled out.
In separate but related news, the Biden administration said it is offering up a third round of orders for free at-home Covid-19 tests. You can go to CovidTests.gov to get eight tests per household.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/nyregion/buffalo-shooting-attack.html
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/05/16/dr-john-cheng-saw-the-gun-and-immediately-took-action/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/16/health/abbott-formula-shortage/index.html
https://www.axios.com/2022/05/17/traffic-deaths-transportation-nhtsa
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/17/politics/home-covid-tests/index.html