by Jacob Fischler, Virginia Mercury The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol will launch the first in a series of public hearings Thursday night in the hopes of drawing a major prime-time national television audience. The Democratic-led committee, which includes two Republicans who …
Read More »Fourth Grade Survivor of Uvalde Shooting Tells Congress: ‘I don’t want it to happen again’
by Ariana Figueroa, Missouri Independent Content Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions related to gun violence. A fourth grader who survived the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting where 19 students and two teachers were murdered told lawmakers Wednesday that she is afraid to go back to school. “I don’t want it …
Read More »Investigation Continues In Execution-Style Shooting Of Wisconsin Judge
The suspect in the killing of a retired judge in Wisconsin remained hospitalized in critical condition Monday as investigators continued to unravel what happened in the hours leading up to the Friday morning fatal shooting. A spokesperson said the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) had no new update on the …
Read More »‘My mom’s life mattered’: Son of Black Shooting Victim Urges Congress To Act
by Ariana Figueroa, Florida Phoenix The son of a Black woman shot and killed by a white supremacist begged members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to take action against such domestic terrorism. The gunman in Buffalo, New York, was motivated by the “great replacement theory,” a racist conspiracy theory …
Read More »Biden Signs Nine Bills Improving Health Care For Veterans
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a bill to provide better access to mammograms for veterans exposed to burn pits as part of nine bills signed into law aimed to improve veterans’ health care. He also signed eight other pieces of legislation Tuesday focused on veteran health care, including a …
Read More »New York Raises Age For Owning Semiautomatic Rifle
New York‘s governor signed a bill that raised the age for buying a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21 on Monday, as she tightened gun laws following the racist massacre at a supermarket in Buffalo. Gov. Kathy Hochul approved a package of gun reform laws that had been passed by …
Read More »Five Proud Boys Indicted On Seditious Conspiracy Charges
A federal grand jury returned a new indictment on seditious conspiracy charges Monday against five accused Proud Boys leaders – upping the ante in one of the Justice Department’s most high-profile Jan. 6 cases. The five defendants in the case – Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Dominic Pezzola, and …
Read More »Federal Court Rejects Louisiana Congressional Map
by Wesley Muller, Louisiana Illuminator A federal judge has struck down Louisiana’s congressional redistricting map that state lawmakers adopted earlier this year. In a ruling issued Monday, Judge Shelly Dick found the Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act by limiting representation of Louisiana’s one-third Black population to just one of the …
Read More »Advocates For $15-An-Hour Federal Minimum Wage Press Biden For A Meeting
by Ariana Figueroa, Missouri Independent The Poor People’s Campaign is urging President Joe Biden to meet with low-income workers before the organization’s march on Washington, D.C., on June 18 to advocate for a $15 federal minimum wage. “What we cannot do is be silent anymore,” Rev. William Barber II, the co-chair …
Read More »Supreme Court Allows States To Use Unlawfully Gerrymandered Congressional Maps In The 2022 Midterm Elections
Henry L. Chambers Jr., University of Richmond In the upcoming midterm elections, states may use maps that a federal court has found unlawful. You read that right: The U.S. Supreme Court recently barred federal courts from requiring states to fix their newly adopted, but unlawful, congressional maps before the 2022 …
Read More »Capitol Police Arrest Man With Fake Badge, Ammunition
A retired police officer was arrested outside of the U.S. Capitol on Friday morning after he was found with a fake badge, a BB gun, body armor, high capacity magazines and other ammunition. Just before 5 a.m., a U.S. Capitol Police patrol officer started talking to a man who had …
Read More »Agriculture Secretary Lays Out Biden Administration Vision For ‘transformed food system’
by Jared Strong, Missouri Independent The Biden administration has set aside billions of dollars to help the nation’s food supply chain recover from the coronavirus pandemic — and, more recently, the looming global effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and on Wednesday, it announced new funding and a comprehensive …
Read More »Biden Administration Cancels $5.8B In Student Loan Debt For Corinthian Colleges Students
The Biden administration has moved to erase $5.8 billion in student debt for former students of the collapsed for-profit Corinthian Colleges chain. This is the largest single federal loan discharge in the history of the Education Department. It will result in 560,000 borrowers receiving full loan discharges. “Providing this targeted relief …
Read More »Baltimore City Files Lawsuit Against Nation’s Largest Ghost Gun Manufacturer
On June 1st, Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced that Baltimore City filed a lawsuit against the nation’s largest ghost gun manufacturer, Polymer80, Inc. The lawsuit, filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, asks the Court to order Polymer80 to stop the public health crisis that the company has …
Read More »Former Trump Aide Peter Navarro Indicted For Contempt Of Congress
Former White House advisor Peter K. Navarro has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress stemming from his failure to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach of the United States Capitol. Navarro, 72, is …
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