Biden calls for gun control action following Boulder mass shooting
President Joe Biden has implored the House and the Senate to act and take ‘common sense steps that will save lives’ after a second mass shooting in the space of a week, as Donald Trump has been accused of using migrants as ‘political pawns.’
The rampage in Boulder on Monday – that left 10 peopled dead – comes just a week after eight people were shot dead in Atlanta.
The violent attacks have plunged the president into the country’s hotly contested debate on gun control laws, with reform often encountered by significant political pushback.
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act,” Biden said on Tuesday.
Last year the Trump administration ordered thousands of migrants being held at the border back to Mexico citing concerns over coronavirus, despite critics asserting they had a legal right to claim asylum.
Boulder gunman asked police for his mother at shooting scene
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa who is accused of killing 10 people at a Boulder grocery store on Monday, took off his clothes and asked to speak to his mother, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The 21-year-old, who also did not answer questions, faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and an attempted murder charge.
The Boulder shooting was the seventh mass killing in the US this year and came less than a week after the Atlanta slayings that left eight people dead at three massage businesses, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.
Joe Middleton24 March 2021 09:43
Democrats vow to vote down all non-minority Biden picks over ‘insulting’ claim Kamala Harris claim
Two Democratic senators, who had expressed their anger over the lack of nominees of Asian American descent in the Biden administration, backed down after an assurance from the White House of elevating voices from the community.
Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, the first congresswomen of Thai descent, had raised the issue of the lack of Asian American diversity in president Joe Biden’s pick of cabinet secretaries.
Speaking to CNN Ms Duckworth said: “To be told that you have Kamala Harris, we are very proud of her, you don’t need anybody else, is insulting.”
Stuti Mishra has the details
Joe Middleton24 March 2021 09:26
Texas, Georgia and Indiana make adults eligible for Covid-19 vaccine
Texas, Georgia and Indiana have joined a growing list of states that are making adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine, as reported by The New York Times.
President Biden earlier this month set a deadline of May 1 for all states to ensure adults could receive the inoculation, as part of his ambition to get the country beyond the pandemic and back to normal life,
On Tuesday Mr Biden tweeted about his meeting with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and said they discussed the response to the global problem.
Joe Middleton24 March 2021 09:07
Joe Biden urges Congress to act after another mass shooting
President Joe Biden has urged Congress to move rapidly in order to pass tighter restrictions on gun ownership after two mass shootings, in Atlanta and Boulder, within the last week.
“We are considering a range of levers, including working through legislation, including executive action,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.
Joe Middleton24 March 2021 08:43
Lawyers who visited migrant children say Trump’s border closure turned youngsters into ‘political pawns’
Donald Trump’s policies at the border helped turned migrants into ‘political pawns’ say lawyers who visited unaccompanied children at a facility in Texas.
Last year the Trump administration ordered thousands of migrants being held at the border back to Mexico citing concerns over coronavirus, despite critics asserting they had a legal right to claim asylum.
Melissa Adamson told The Independent that poor conditions at migrant facilities holding children were a “direct result of what happens when children’s lives are used as political pawns.”
Andrew Buncombe has the details
Joe Middleton24 March 2021 08:35
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Hello and welcome to another day on The Independent’s US politics blog, bringing you the latest news and analysis straight from the White House and beyond.
Joe Middleton24 March 2021 08:28
