Closing summary
Once again, America is dealing with the aftermath of mass shootings, both those that occurred over the just-concluded Independence Day holiday weekend, and others less recent. A man accused of killing five people in Philadelphia has been arraigned on charges that include murder, one of more than a dozen mass shootings that happened as Americans gathered to celebrate the country’s independence. But there were few festivities in Highland Park, Illinois, where a ceremony was held to memorialize the deaths of seven people and wounding of dozens more by a shooter last year. And in Texas, a gunman who killed 19 people at a Walmart in El Paso is expected to receive multiple life sentences today after pleading guilty to federal charges.
Here’s a rundown of what happened today:
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the violent weekend is proof Republicans must support tighter restrictions on firearms.
A gun violence researcher told the Guardian’s US politics live blog that widespread gun violence represents a “new normal” for the annual Independence Day celebrations.
That was indeed cocaine discovered at the White House, testing confirms. The powder was reportedly found in an area where visitors lock up their cellphones, and the Secret Service is investigating.
More details of the government’s reasoning for searching Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort could become public, after a judge ruled that portions of the search warrant affidavit should be unsealed.
Global average temperatures on Monday and Tuesday broke records, data indicates.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also responded to a federal court ruling from Tuesday that curbed the ability of Biden administration officials to meet with social media firms over the content they allowed on their platforms.
Here’s what Jean-Pierre had to say:
Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre says DoJ is reviewing injunction limiting administration's communications with social media companies:
— The Recount (@therecount) July 5, 2023
“Our view remains that social media platforms have a critical responsibility to take action or to take account of the effects of their platforms.” pic.twitter.com/zrXS1cXZXP
The Guardian’s Ed Pilkington spoke to a top disinformation expert, who warned the ruling could undermine efforts to fight lies spread over social media ahead of next year’s presidential elections:
Nina Jankowicz, a specialist in disinformation campaigns, told the Guardian that an injunction imposed by a federal judge on Tuesday against key federal agencies and officials blocking their communication with tech platforms could unleash false information in critical areas of public life. She said that election denialism and anti-vaccine propaganda could be the beneficiaries.
“This is a weaponisation of the court system. It is an intentional and purposeful move to disrupt the work that needs to be done ahead of the 2024 election, and it’s really chilling,” she said.
In Tuesday’s ruling, a federal judge from a US district in Louisiana imposed tough restrictions on federal agencies and officials liaising with social media companies over online content. The injunction comes amid mounting pressure from Republican leaders and rightwing groups claiming collusion between the Biden administration and social media platforms to censor conservative speech.
The judge, Terry Doughty, sided with Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri who sued the Biden administration, claiming it violated the first amendment right to free speech. He ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits in showing that the government “has used its power to silence the opposition”.
He added that the Biden administration’s handling of social media content during the Covid pandemic resembled the “Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth’”.
If the allegations raised by the Republican officials were true, Doughty wrote, they would involve “the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history”.
