Biden orders flags lowered to honor victims of ‘senseless’ Atlanta spa shootings
President Joe Biden ordered flags at all federal buildings in the U.S. and abroad flown at half-staff Thursday to honor the eight people killed in shootings at three spas in Georgia this week.
In a presidential proclamation, Biden said flags shall remain lowered at the White House and other federal buildings through sunset on March 22 “as a mark of respect” for the victims of the “senseless” shooting spree in the Atlanta area on Tuesday.
Six of the victims in Tuesday’s assault were Asian American women, but local law enforcement officials say the suspected shooter, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, does not appear to have been motivated by racial animus. Rather, officials say Long told investigators he has an “addiction to sex” and frequented some of the targeted spas.
Still, federal investigators have not ruled out a racial aspect, especially given an uptick in hate crimes against Asian Americans since last year.
In a tweet late Wednesday, the president said he and first lady Jill Biden “are keeping everyone impacted by the shootings in Atlanta in our prayers.”
“We don’t yet know the motive, but what we do know is that the Asian-American community is feeling enormous pain tonight,” he wrote. “The recent attacks against the community are un-American. They must stop.”
Biden was initially expected to travel to Atlanta on Friday to promote his recently enacted $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
However, in light of Tuesday’s tragedy, the White House said Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will postpone that event.
— New York Daily News
Biden says US will meet goal of 100 million COVID-19 shots Friday — ‘weeks ahead of schedule’
The U.S. will vaccinate its 100 millionth resident against COVID-19 on Friday, meeting the momentous benchmark more than a month ahead of schedule, according to President Joe Biden.
Biden announced the expected timeline for the 100 millionth shot while providing an update Thursday on his administration’s effort to vaccinate the nation out of the deadly pandemic.
“I am proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met my goal of administering 100 million shots to our fellow Americans. That’s weeks ahead of schedule,” said Biden, who upon taking office set a goal of immunizing 100 million Americans within his first 100 days as president.
He added, “But that’s just the floor. We will not stop until we beat this pandemic.”
The president credited the faster-than-expected pace of vaccinations to a surge in production of the Pfizer and Moderna shots, as well as the recent authorization of the Johnson & Johnson candidate.
The J&J shot, which, unlike Moderna and Pfizer, only requires one dose for efficacy, is being manufactured with the help of a fourth pharmaceutical company, Merck, which abandoned its own plan for a vaccine to help speed up production.
— New York Daily News
Incoming Teen Vogue editor resigns after backlash over old tweets mocking Asians
She hasn’t even started her new gig, but would-be Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Alexi McCammond has already been ousted after uproar over 10-year-old anti-Asian tweets.
Ten years ago, McCammond, now 27, mocked Asians on Twitter, and this week controversy erupted at parent company Condé Nast over its hiring of the former Politico reporter given her past.
And now, McCammond will not in fact join the magazine, The Daily Beast reported Thursday.
Back in 2011, she tweeted, “Outdone by Asian” and “now googling how to not wake up with swollen asian eyes….” and “give me a 2/10 on my chem problem, cross out all of my work and don’t explain what I did wrong…. thanks a lot, stupid Asian T.A. you’re great.”
After someone posted the 2011 tweets on Instagram over the weekend, a public outcry ensued, with some saying that tweets posted by her teenage self should not be held against her, especially if she had learned a lesson, and others saying that their racist nature should disqualify her from the role no matter what.
McCammond apologized and sent a note to her new colleagues on Monday expressing remorse, The Daily Beast said. But then on Thursday afternoon she tweeted that she had “decided to part ways with Condé Nast,” along with a “statement about why.”
““I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that,” he statement read in part. “I look at my work and growth in the years since, and have redoubled my commitment to growing in the years to come as both a person and as a professional.”
— New York Daily News
60 storage bins full of fireworks found at Southern California home that exploded, left 2 dead
LOS ANGELES — Five dozen large storage bins filled with fireworks were recovered at the Ontario, California, home where a massive explosion rocked the neighborhood and left two dead Tuesday afternoon, city officials said.
About 60 containers, each holding the equivalent of 27 gallons, were found crammed with unexploded fireworks during cleanup Wednesday at the property in the 400 block of West Francis Street, Ontario spokesperson Dan Bell said.
Twenty-four bomb technicians from Riverside and Orange counties, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI have been combing through the site since the initial denotation shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday.
“They are burning the materials to make it safe,” Bell said, adding that they have yet to tackle anything inside the buildings.
Some of the stash was detonated Wednesday, sending up more smoke and echoing loud booms into the neighborhood. More fireworks and explosives were expected to be set off Thursday as the area continues to be cleared, Ontario Police Officer Bill Lee said.
Bell said the pyrotechnics are not the kind used in commercial displays, as was initially thought, but are still big and powerful. Sources familiar with the investigation suspect they are the type sold in underground markets.
Cesar Paez-Vasquez, 20, and Alex Paez, 38, are believed to have died in the explosion, according to preliminary identifications by the Ontario Police Department.
Both men, who have been missing since Tuesday, are connected to the family who lives at the property, authorities said.
According to a GoFundMe account set up by Paez’s sister, he was married and had three children, including a newborn girl.
— Los Angeles Times
