Top Story
New York City’s Department of Correction is spending more than $90,000 on high-powered machine guns for officers, after cutting millions of dollars earmarked for social services and job training for people held in Rikers Island from its budget. Officers are not permitted to carry weapons while working in jail facilities. [Gothamist]
Context: Securing housing, adequate employment, and access to mental health services is much more challenging for formerly incarcerated people than for the general public.
From Our Team
Domestic violence often foreshadows mass murder. Perpetrators of some of the country’s deadliest shootings — including the attacks on Pulse nightclub in Orlando, a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida — had domestic violence allegations, charges, or arrests in their backgrounds.
The Trace’s Jennifer Mascia first broke down the connection between intimate partner violence and mass murder in 2021, after a San Jose, California, transit employee whose ex-girlfriend had accused him of abuse killed nine co-workers. With the U.S. on pace to experience the deadliest year for mass shootings in recent history, Mascia revisited the topic, adding new insights into the intersection of domestic violence and mass shootings — and what can be done to save lives.
What to Know Today
Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, were aware of multiple threats of armed political violence prior to the January 6 insurrection and failed to act to prevent the attack on the Capitol, according to a new report by Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee. [The New York Times/Senate Homeland Security Committee]
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is shifting the city’s public safety strategy from a reactive, police-driven approach to one that centers violence prevention. How long will it take to see results? [The TRiiBE] Context: Now that he’s in office, supporters and critics are closely watching to see if Johnson follows through on his campaign promises to include everyone in the process of making Chicago safer.
Cincinnati is suing Ohio over the state’s preemption law, which prevents cities from passing their own firearm ordinances. Municipalities have failed to get the law overturned before, but attorneys say this time could be different. [Cincinnati Enquirer]
It’s shockingly easy to purchase illegal machine gun conversion devices like auto sears on social media platforms: They’re openly for sale on Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, and Twitter, even though such transactions violate their terms of service. [Forbes] Context: For decades, fully automatic weapons were expensive, collectable, and rarely used in crimes. Auto sears, which can cost less than $20 online, have changed that.
A new lawsuit alleges that Chicago police falsely arrested a woman, Carlishia Hood, for the shooting death of a man who attacked her at a South Side hot dog stand. Prosecutors dropped murder charges against Hood and her 14-year-old son, who they say killed her attacker, earlier this week. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Mexican human rights activist María Herrera Magdaleno has seen four of her eight children go missing in the last decade — likely disappeared by cartels armed with U.S. guns. Data shows that American companies produce the weapons driving cartel violence. [Center for American Progress]
Data Point
$17 million — the amount New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s administration eliminated from the budget that was designated for programs that help incarcerated people get jobs, find housing, stay off drugs, and reconnect with loved ones once they’re released from Rikers Island. [Gothamist]
