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Tag: DC

  • Map indicates US states with the highest rates of mass shootings

    Map indicates US states with the highest rates of mass shootings

    In a recent study that spanned nearly ten years, the states in the US with the highest frequency of mass shootings were identified.

    From January 2014 to December 2022, there were 4,011 mass shootings nationwide, according to a report released on Wednesday by the JAMA Network Open journal. Four or more persons had to be shot or killed for a mass shooting to be considered one.

    Hawaii and North Dakota had no mass shootings, while Illinois had the most with 414. The study presented the number of mass shootings per million persons using data from the Gun Violence Archive.

    It was discovered that Washington, DC, has the highest rate of mass shootings—10.4 per million residents—followed by Louisiana (4.2 per million) and Illinois (3.6 per million).

    The study claims that a geographic examination of mass shooting incidents revealed a clustering around Illinois and the southeast region of the US.

    “Mass shootings related to crime, social issues, and DV (domestic violence) followed a similar pattern, whereas mass shootings not related to these issues were more evenly distributed across the US.”

    In addition to the two states without mass shootings, New Hampshire, Idaho, Utah, and West Virginia have the lowest rates with 0.08 per million people, 0.13 per million, and 0.21 per million respectively.

    The four states with the largest populations fell in the middle. With 1.04 per million people, California had the highest rate of mass shootings. According to the survey, Texas had 1.05 per million, Florida had 1.25 per million, and New York had 1.05 per million.

    For all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, the median number of mass shootings per state was discovered to be 45. Over the course of the nine-year period, mass shootings resulted in the deaths or injuries of 21,006 individuals.

    About one-third of the shootings over the time period were social-related, or 27.3%. According to the survey, additional reasons for absence included 15.8% connected to crime, 11.1% related to domestic abuse, and 1.4% related to employment or education. The remaining 52% did not fall under those headings.

    “Firearm injury prevention specialists can direct them towards how to prevent them by understanding where mass shootings occur across the nation and more about the context, such as how frequently these tragic events happen in homes,” The study’s co-author and head of the Injury and Violence Prevention Centre at the Colorado School of Public Health, Ashley Brooks-Russell, made this statement.

  • Explosions heard outside restaurants in Washington, DC, during attacks

    Explosions heard outside restaurants in Washington, DC, during attacks

    A series of explosive strikes early this morning targeted several businesses in Washington, DC.

    Between 4.30 and 4.45 in the morning, several devices, including a Molotov cocktail, were detonated outside of buildings all around the US capital.

    The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) reported that they were looking for multiple suspects and a car that was allegedly utilised to leave each of the three scenes.

    The police department claimed that in all three incidents, only commercial properties were targeted and that no attempt was made to damage the general population.

    The first explosive was detonated beside an ATM at the Truist Bank at 4.30am, causing damage to the area.

    The second was set off at the entrance of the Nike Store, barely a mile from the US Capitol building, at around 4.36am.

    Finally, at around 4.45am, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a Safeway supermarket, again causing damage.

    None of the three premises that were targeted were open at the time of the attacks, and no injuries have been reported.

    The MPD said it was offering a $10,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the crimes.

    That reward was doubled by a contribution from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, bringing the total amount to $20,000.

  • Biden signs measure to prevent the divisive DC criminal bill

    Biden signs measure to prevent the divisive DC criminal bill

    A resolution to stop a contentious crime measure in Washington, DC, that detractors have blasted as being weak on crime, was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Monday.

    Republicans accuse Democrats of failing to address the crime problem, and the attempt to defeat the crime bill exposed the delicate balance the party is trying to achieve.

    The Senate voted earlier this month to pass the Republican-led resolution. And while a large number of Democrats ultimately supported the resolution, an announcement by Biden that he would not veto it surprised and upset members of his party as many believe Congress should not interfere in the political affairs of the district.

    The House passed the resolution in February before Biden’s veto announcement, with 173 Democrats voting against it.

    The DC Council chairman attempted to withdraw the legislation from congressional review after it became clear the resolution of disapproval was on track to pass the Senate with widespread support. But that attempted withdrawal did not stop the Senate vote from moving forward.

    A number of Democrats contend that public debate over the crime bill has lacked nuance, pointing to policies that run counter to the “weak on crime” messaging around the bill.

    “The debate over the DC crime law has gone a bit off the rails. It lowers the carjacking maximum to 24 years, but that’s IN LINE with many states. And the bill INCREASES sentences for attempted murder, attempted sexual assault, misdemeanor sexual abuse and many other crimes,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted earlier this month.

    Republicans, meanwhile, have called the DC crime bill dangerous and irresponsible.

    “Congress is tasked with overseeing Washington, D.C. — a federal district where people should be safe to live and work. The district should set a nationwide example by enacting legislation that makes its residents and visitors safer — not less safe,” Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, a lead sponsor of the resolution in the Senate, said in a statement.

    The controversial crime bill was initially vetoed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, with Bowser saying in a statement at the time that the bill “does not make us safer.” In a letter to the DC council chairman, Bowser expressed concern that “the council substantially reduced penalties for robberies, carjackings and home invasion burglaries.”

    The council, however, voted to override the mayor’s veto. “Decades of dramatic increases in incarceration have not been a solution to rising crime,” a release from the council said on the veto override.

    Separately, Biden signed a measure Monday that would require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify as much intelligence as possible on the origins of the coronavirus, as well as any links between the virus and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. White House officials had for days declined to say whether he supported the bill.

    In a statement shortly after the president signed the bill, Biden said he “shares Congress’s goal” of releasing as much information as possible about the origin of Covid-19.

    “We need to get to the bottom of COVID-19’s origins to help ensure we can better prevent future pandemics,” Biden said. “My Administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID–19’s origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

  • Dwayne Johnson tells fans not to expect Black Adam in ‘First Chapter’ of new DC Universe

    Black Adam fans will have to remain patient while waiting for a sequel to the Dwayne Johnson-starring DC film.

    The Rock took to Twitter on Tuesday to update fans on the future of Black Adam in light of DC Studios’ recent leadership change. In November, Warner Bros. announced that DC Studios will be led by filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran.

    “My passionate friends, I wanted to give you a long-awaited Black Adam update regarding the character’s future in the new DC Universe,” Johnson wrote in a statement. “James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling. However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters.”

    “James and I have known each other for years and have always rooted for each other to succeed,” he continued. “It’s no different now, and I will always root for DC (and Marvel) to win and WIN BIG. You guys know me, and I have very thick skin—and you can always count on me to be direct with my words. These decisions made by James and DC leadership represent their vision of DCU through their creative lens.”

    Gunn quote-tweeted Johnson’s post, adding, “Love @TheRock & I’m always excited to see what he & Seven Bucks do next. Can’t wait to collaborate soon.”

    Johnson’s remarks come on the heels of rumors that the Rock had unfollowed both Warner Bros. and the Black Adam social media accounts. Johnson shut down the rumors in a tweet over the weekend.

    “100% not true,” he wrote. “Never followed either account on IG.”

    Earlier this month, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and Superman star Henry Cavill both stepped back from their respective franchises amid the DC Studios shakeup.

    Last week, Jenkins hopped on Twitter to clarify reports that she was pushed out of the Wonder Woman franchise. “This is simply not true,” she wrote. “I never walked away. I was open to considering anything asked of me. It was my understanding there was nothing I could do to move anything forward at this time. DC is obviously buried in changes they are having to make, so I understand these decisions are difficult right now. I do not want what has been a beautiful journey with WW to land on negative note. I have loved and been so honored to be the person who got to make these last two Wonder Woman films.”

    Meanwhile, in a statement on Instagram last Wednesday, Cavill announced he will not remain in the DCEU to play Superman—though Black Adam and its aftermath gave fans direct reason to expect his return.

    “I have just had a meeting with James Gunn and Peter Safran and it’s sad news, everyone,” Cavill wrote. “I will, after all, not be returning as Superman. After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life. The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. James and Peter have a universe to build. I wish them and all involved with the new universe the best of luck, and the happiest of fortunes.”

    Source: Complex.com

  • Ten years after Sandy Hook shooting, parents push for change

    Living a regular life and all babbling in Newtown, Connecticut, unprepared for the devastation that would unfold and consume the rest of their lives.

    Mark Barden was an accomplished professional musician. Nicole Hockley had just moved to Newtown from the United Kingdom, where she had worked in corporate marketing.

    An isolated and violence-obsessed 20-year-old with unrestricted access to firearms shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School on the morning of December 14, 2012, after killing his mother. He shot and killed 20 first-graders and six adults in 10 minutes before taking his own life.

    The lives of Daniel Barden, 7, and Dylan Hockley, 6, were among those cut painfully short that day. But in the long decade since, their spirit and memory have lived on in their parents’ devoted advocacy for safer communities.

    A month after the shooting, Mark Barden, Nicole Hockley and other parents who lost children that day launched Sandy Hook Promise, an organization dedicated to protecting children from gun violence.

    “I didn’t know what the change would be, but we would be part of it,” Hockley recently told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota for the CNN Special Report “Sandy Hook: Forever Remembered” airing on the 10-year anniversary of the tragedy.

    The Sandy Hook Promise group first set its sights on gun reform. Along with other families, they sought bans on AR-15 assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, both of which were legally purchased by the shooter’s mother and used in the Sandy Hook attack.

    “There were a lot of guns that our shooter could have chosen,” Hockley said in February 2016. “He chose the AR-15 because he was aware of how many shots it could get out … (and) that it would serve his objective of killing as many people as possible in the shortest time possible.”

    Barden, Hockley and other Sandy Hook families found a sympathetic partner in John McKinney, their state senator and the highest-ranking Republican in Connecticut politics at the time.

    “My immediate thoughts in terms of my role in the aftermath was, ‘I need to do, and I will do, anything humanly possible to help these families,’” McKinney said. “[I] met with all of the other Republicans in our caucus, and I was very honest with them. I said, ‘I’m going to go negotiate and work with the Democrats.’”

    After months of meetings with victims’ families, town halls in the Newtown community and consultations with experts, McKinney and his colleagues unveiled their proposed legislation on April 1, 2013.

    When then-Governor Dannel Malloy signed the bipartisan bill three days later, Connecticut had enacted some of the most sweeping gun legislation in the country. The new law expanded the state’s assault weapons ban and banned the sale of high-capacity ammunition; required a state-issued permit to purchase any rifle, shotgun or ammunition; and created the country’s first registry of individuals convicted of an offense with a deadly weapon.

    Since 2013, Connecticut is the most populous state without a mass shooting of four or more fatalities, according to a CNN analysis of the Gun Violence Archive.

    A defeat paves the way for success

    The Sandy Hook Promise parents set their sights on Washington, DC, to see if their home state’s success could be replicated on the federal level.

    “We approached the Connecticut legislature with love and logic, and they listened,” Hockley said in a 2013 speech introducing President Barack Obama. “I believe that with that same approach of love and logic, Congress will be persuaded to act.”

    In April 2013, National Rifle Association-endorsed senators Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Penn., proposed a joint recommendation that would have required criminal background checks on people purchasing firearms at gun shows and online. The policy, known as universal background checks, was supported by more than 80% of Americans, according to a Pew Research poll taken at that time, giving the newly minted leaders of the gun reform movement reason for hope.

    “I just thought, ‘OK,this is pretty simple. This is basic. This is what everybody wants. Let’s just get that done,’” Mark Barden said.

    Most Republican senators and five Democrats saw things differently, however, and the bill fell six votes short of the threshold needed to break a filibuster.

    The bill’s failure struck the families as a disappointment and a betrayal: Barden and Hockley both say multiple senators claimed to stand with them, then voted against the bill. But the two advocates found lessons in defeat and vowed that day to double down on gun violence prevention.

    “We’ve always known this will be a long road, and we don’t have the luxury of turning back,” Barden said in the White House Rose Garden. “We will keep moving forward and build public support for common sense solutions in the areas of mental health, school safety, and gun safety.”

    Barden and Hockley returned to Connecticut with a deeper passion for their work.

    “If that were to have passed, I think there would have been maybe a sentiment of like, ‘OK, we’re done. We’ve got that fixed,’” Barden said. Recalling the words of fellow gun control advocate Sarah Brady, “‘Sometimes you need a good defeat.’ It kind of mobilizes people, catalyzes people. They know what’s going on. It did for me.”

    After studying other mass shootings and gun violence, they developed expansive programming to avert tragedies before they begin. That work has produced Know the Signs, a range of programs that train students and educators to identify, report and respond to behaviors that suggest someone might harm themselves or others.

    “100% of school shooters give off warning signs before they carry that out,” Barden said. “What if that person giving off those warning signs were surrounded by people who understood how to look for those warning signs, and then had the training and the tools to actually do something?”

    That straightforward premise has yielded profound success. Sandy Hook Promise says it has presented Know the Signs to more than 23,000 schools and 18 million people. The training programs have helped districts and students avert threats of violence in West Virginia, California, Massachusetts and other states — not to mention nearly 2,700 students in need of intervention that the organization has connected with crisis counselors.

    Source: Herald.com 

  • ‘Stranger Things’ actor Caleb McLaughlin says he wants to play DC’s static

    Caleb McLaughlin, best known for his role as Lucas Sinclair on Stranger Things, has said that he’s down to portray DC’s Static in a future project.

    As part of an extensive Q&A session at Heroes Comic Con Belgium 2022 in Brussels, per Insert Coin, McLaughlin revealed his aspirations to play the superhero, who notably appeared in the animated series Static Shock. When asked what movie roles he’s interested in, McLaughlin said he’s eager to get involved in the world of superhero films.

    “What other movie would I like… I want to do a superhero film. I would love to play Static Shock honestly,” he said, per Screen Rant. “I would want to do something like a superhero, or even something… it doesn’t matter. I’m really open to being any character. I feel like I can play anybody honestly. It really—I feel like how I pick my films is really what speaks to me. Also, I’m also developing other projects myself that will be coming out. Not soon, but soon. But yeah, it really doesn’t matter actually. It’s just whatever, like, project speaks to me and my creativity.”

    DC announced plans for a Static Shock film in August 2020 at DC FanDome, although no further details about the project were revealed. Michael B. Jordan is on board as a producer for the film, which currently doesn’t have a release date. “I’m proud to be a part of building a new universe centered around Black superheroes,” Jordan said at the time. The last update for Static Shock came last year when Safety writer Randy McKinnon was hired to pen its script.

    Source: Complex.com

  • Desmond Tutu’s daughter prohibited by Church of England from leading funeral

    The Church of England has forbidden Desmond Tutu’s daughter from officiating at a funeral because she is married to a woman.

    Mpho Tutu van Furth, an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Washington, DC, was requested to preside at Thursday’s burial in Shropshire for her late godfather, Martin Kenyon.

    Ms Tutu van Furth told BBC News it “seemed really churlish and hurtful”.

    The Diocese of Hereford said it was “a difficult situation”.

    The Church of England does not permit its clergy to be in a same-sex marriage because its official teaching is that marriage is only between one man and one woman.

    However, its sister Anglican church in the US, The Episcopal Church, does allow clergy to enter into gay marriages.

    “Advice was given in line with the House of Bishop’s current guidance on same-sex marriage,” a statement from the Diocese of Hereford said.

    The former Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Reverend Paul Bayes, who is a campaigner for the church to change its position on sexuality, said to “plead that things are difficult is not good enough”.

    “We urgently need to make space for conscience, space for pastoral care, and space for love,” he said.

    After Mr Kenyon’s family was told of the Church’s decision, they moved the funeral service from St Michael and All Angels in Wentnor, near Bishops Castle, to a marquee in the vicarage next door so Ms Tutu van Furth could officiate and preach.

    “It’s incredibly sad,” Ms Tutu van Furth told BBC News. “It feels like a bureaucratic response with maybe a lack of compassion.

    “It seemed really churlish and hurtful. But as sad as that was, there was the joy of having a celebration of a person who could throw open the door to people who are sometimes excluded.”

    Martin Kenyon, then 91, became an internet sensation in December 2020 with his frank answers during a CNN interview after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.

    Asked how it felt to be one of the first people in the world to receive the jab, he said: “I don’t think I feel much at all”. But added he hoped not to have the “bug” now because he had granddaughters.

    “There’s no point in dying when I’ve lived this long, is there?” he said.

    Mr Kenyon was close friends with the late South African Archbishop, Desmond Tutu.

    Ms Tutu van Furth was forced to give her upright to officiate as a priest in South Africa after she married Marceline van Furth, a Dutch academic, in 2015.

    Her father Desmond Tutu, who died in December 2021, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his struggle against apartheid in South Africa. He also campaigned in favour of gay rights and backed same-sex marriage.

    “I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place,” he said in 2013. “I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this.”

    He added: “I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level.”

  • Trump’s defense secretary denies there were orders to have 10K troops ready to deploy on January 6

    Former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller told the House select committee investigating the Capitol Hill insurrection that former President Donald Trump never gave him a formal order to have 10,000 troops ready to be deployed to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, according to a new video of Miller’s deposition was released by the committee.

    “I was never given any direction or order or knew of any plans of that nature,” Miller said in the video.
    Miller later said in the video definitively, “There was no direct, there was no order from the President.”
    “We obviously had plans for activating more folks, but that was not anything more than contingency planning,” Miller added. “There was no official message traffic or anything of that nature.”
    Trump has previously said that he requested National Guard troops be ready for January 6. He released a statement on June 9 that he “suggested & offered” up to 20,000 National Guard troops be deployed to Washington, DC, ahead of January 6 claiming it was because he felt “that the crowd was going to be very large.”
    The committee released Miller’s testimony after already revealing that Trump did not make calls to military personnel or law enforcement to intervene as the Capitol attack was unfolding. General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the committee that he never received a call from Trump as the attack was unfolding.
    Source: bbc.com