What To Know Today

On the anniversary of the El Paso mass shooting, concern about domestic terrorism, hate crimes in Texas. Tuesday marked two years since a man allegedly drove 10 hours across the state and opened fire in a Walmart in El Paso, killing 23 and injuring dozens more. Online, he had made his racist intentions clear: He wanted to “stop the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” This anniversary, survivors and residents of El Paso reflected on dissonance between the initial promises of state officials, including Governor Greg Abbott, to stop the rise of domestic terrorism in Texas and the reality of politics in the state. “Not only has he not done anything, but we’ve gone in the opposite direction, the more dangerous direction on so many fronts,” said Representative Veronica Escobar, a congressional Democrat. This year, Texas passed a permitless carry law, and days ago, the federal Department of Justice sued Texas to block Abbott’s order directing state troopers to pull over drivers suspected of transporting migrants, a move many have defended using the same “invader” language as the El Paso shooter. In editorials, President Joe Biden and former Democratic Representative Beto O’Rourke called out the rise of domestic terrorism and gun violence as they reflected on the El Paso shooting.

The D.C. children grieving their friends lost to gun violence. As the nation’s capital, like the rest of the nation, experiences an uptick in gun-related deaths, more and more children are caught in the crossfire. The peers they leave behind are finding ways to grieve and honor their late friends. For weeks, kids enrolled in a Washington community nonprofit called The Creative School met to plan Karon Brown Day in honor of the 11-year-old who was shot and killed across from the elementary school from which he’d just graduated. Two of his friends — who had “LLK” shaved into their haircuts, for “Long Live Karon” — told DCist that they had won a flag football game in honor of their friend. “I just think of the memories that we have with him, and realize that he in a better place,” one boy said. Karon’s fifth-grade teacher told the news outlet that his classmates are open about their grief. “They want to go to his gravesite,” she said. “They want to talk about it. … They are so active and so interested in the healing process. They really really loved him, and they’re continuing his legacy.”

Shots fired, officer fatally stabbed as Pentagon goes into lockdown. Gunshots rang out Tuesday morning at a bus stop outside the entrance of the facility. An Associated Press journalist on the scene reported hearing multiple gunshots, and another heard police yell out “shooter!” An officer was also fatally stabbed that morning, but law enforcement did not immediately clarify whether the incidents were connected. The stabbing suspect was shot by law enforcement and died at the scene.

After 34 years in prison, a Philadelphia man is exonerated based on documents law enforcement had the whole time. In 1984, a store clerk in Philly was fatally shot during a robbery. Years later, two witnesses placed a man named Curtis Crosland at the scene, where no physical evidence connecting him to the murder was ever found. But those testimonies — which were later recanted, and whose credibility were questioned in documents never turned over to the defense — were enough to send him away for life. Each year he was imprisoned, Crosland represented himself in court, using knowledge he gleaned from law books in the prison’s library, and maintained his innocence every step. Finally, in June, he became the 22nd person exonerated through work by the Philadelphia Conviction Integrity Unit, established in 2018 by District Attorney Larry Krasner. “I feel exceedingly joyful, happy, that finally, you know… after 30 or more years, after constantly knocking on the door for somebody to please hear me, that day finally came,” the 60-year-old told CNN.

Data Point

3 in 4 — the share of all kids who bring guns to their K-12 schools in North Carolina who say they do so because they need to protect themselves. “We know [the reason] why kids bring guns in schools is because they are scared,” a state public safety official said. [WXLV]