What To Know Today
NEW from THE TRACE: Palmetto State Armory marketed anti-government boogaloo products and then lobbied Congress. Federal lobbying disclosures reveal that the burgeoning South Carolina firearms manufacturer retained Washington, D.C., lobbyist Craig Metz of the firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough last December. The move came only months after the company began selling products emblazoned with imagery associated with the boogaloo, slang for a war to topple the federal government — something adherents prepare for, and in some cases seek to accelerate. Extremists with boogaloo ties participated in multiple acts of political violence over the past year, and the FBI has warned of the potential for more boogaloo-related violence across the country. You can read the story here.
Mass shooting in Chicago leaves two dead, 13 injured. Gunfire erupted early Sunday morning after a fight broke out at a party in the Park Manor neighborhood of the city’s South Side, a Chicago Fire Department spokesperson said. A 30-year-old woman and 39-year-old man were pronounced dead at the scene. The victims ranged from 20 to 44 years old; three were listed in serious condition and the rest had non-life-threatening injuries. It was the second time in less than a year that 15 people got shot in a single incident in Chicago — the other being a shooting outside a funeral home in July. Last year, mass shootings hit their highest level since the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive started tracking them. As we’ve reported, they disproportionately affect predominantly Black neighborhoods like where the Chicago shooting took place.
Kenneth Walker, boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, files lawsuit against Louisville Police. Walker, a licensed gun carrier, was in the apartment he shared with Taylor last March when plainclothes police officers executed a no-knock warrant, forced their way in, and fatally shot Taylor in her own bed. In a federal suit, Walker is seeking damages for the violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. The action was filed on Friday, one day before the first anniversary of Taylor’s death. Prosecutors initially charged Walker for firing at officers, but charges were later dropped after he testified he thought they were intruders.
Feds: Man arrested over Capitol attack described being armed during siege, having access to powerful weapons. Guy Reffitt, one of more than a dozen rioters with militia ties who was arrested for taking part in the insurrection, told two fellow rioters he had set up a security company to gain access to heavy firepower, prosecutors said at a hearing opposing his release before trial. “We can get ammo and weapons available to law enforcement,” he allegedly wrote in private, encrypted texts. “Join us and lets take back our country. The fight has only just begun.” Reffitt also allegedly told his associates that he and several others were carrying loaded firearms inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack.
Creditor’s committee in the NRA’s bankruptcy case requests removal of outside law firm as general counsel. In a filing, the committee argues that Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors cannot fairly represent the National Rifle Association because of a “fatal conflict of interest that eviscerates the Brewer firm’s alleged independence and status as a disinterested professional.” The committee in part argues that the firm’s alleged past financial improprieties are at issue in the New York attorney general’s case against the NRA — the case that by the group’s own admission prompted its Chapter 11 claim. The move follows a similar argument the federal trustee overseeing the case made last month.
Data Point
75 percent — the rise in gun murders in America’s 100 largest cities since 2014, when violent crime was near a historic low. Over half the uptick came as a result of last year’s surge, according to a preliminary analysis. [Patrick Sharkey, sociologist]
