‘Egregiously poor decision-making.’ A damning Texas House of Representatives interim report condemns the 376 law enforcement officials who rushed to the scene of a mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school May 24: “They failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety.”
■ Lawmakers also conclude that “systemic failures” let the gunman—who investigators conclude had never fired a gun before that day—stockpile military-style rifles, accessories and ammunition without drawing attention from law enforcement.
■ Among other revelations: He targeted his old 4th-grade classroom …
■ … a year after earning the nickname “School Shooter.”
■ Read the full report here.
■ Newly released police bodycam video shows officers smashing windows and pulling kids out of the school.
A good guy with a gun? Three people were shot and killed and two, including a 12-year-old girl, were injured by a gunman at an Indianapolis-area mall—before a man that police identify as a “citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm” shot and killed him.
■ Highland Park officials considering legal action against the gun industry over that city’s 4th of July massacre see promising signs in a Gary, Indiana, case.
■ A funeral today was to honor Highland Park victim Kevin McCarthy, father of a 2-year-old orphaned in that attack.
■ A departing executive producer who has, in his words, “led CNN’s coverage of countless shootings” is quitting to take his wife and kids back to the U.K.: “It is impossible for us to live with this uniquely American problem any longer.”
‘The best speech I have witnessed in my life.’ A Florida Democrat running for attorney general tells Politico he was wowed by Gov. Pritzker’s speech in Tampa over the weekend …
■ … a speech in which Pritzker compared statements from those describing themselves as (Florida Gov. Ron) DeSantis Republicans—while distancing themselves from Donald Trump—to “saying that you’ve never been a fan of Darth Vader but you support the Empire’s political agenda.”
■ Popular Information profiles a couple of (other) billionaires—Democrat and Republican—“buying the midterm elections.”
■ Columnist and ex-U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich: “Time for Democrats to kick Joe Manchin out.”
Moms against books, etc. The arch-conservative group Moms for Liberty held its first national convention in Florida over the weekend—gathering parents opposed to school mask mandates, library books that address gender identity, and lessons on discrimination.
■ … as was Trump-era Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who called for that department’s abolition.
‘Worse than anyone imagined.’ Jezebel’s Laura Bassett, who’s been reporting on abortion rights for a decade, assesses the news in the three weeks since the Supreme Court struck them down: “We knew it would be awful. We knew pregnant people’s lives would be threatened. We didn’t know it would all happen so fast.”
■ A University of Texas social work professor: As more people travel out of state for abortions, charities may run short of funds to help.
■ The Onion: “Woman Getting IUD In Every Orifice Just In Case.”
‘BA.5 doesn’t care that you just had COVID-19.’ Vox explains: “Because BA.5 spreads so readily, the small fraction of people getting seriously sick is adding up.”
■ Just eight of Illinois’ 102 counties have a low rate of COVID transmission.
Free bikes. Streetsblog Chicago: Applications open today for Chicago’s bicycle giveaway program, Bike Chicago.
■ Here’s where to apply—after 11 a.m.
■ Chicago police report two women were robbed at knifepoint overnight on the CTA’s Red Line.
‘Heat apocalypse.’ Europe’s confronting a record-breaking heat wave …
■ … fulfilling a hypothetical 2050 weather forecast 28 years early.
■ The U.S. is bracing for its turn this week.