memeorandum: Buffalo shooting suspect was investigated for earlier threat (Washington Post)

9:00 AM ET, May 16, 2022

Top Items:

A Fringe Conspiracy Theory, Fostered Online, Is Refashioned by the G.O.P. — Replacement theory, espoused by the suspect in the Buffalo massacre, has been embraced by some right-wing politicians and commentators. — Inside a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, a white man with a history …

New York Times:

Growing evidence of a military disaster on the Donets pierces a pro-Russian bubble. — The destruction wreaked on a Russian battalion as it tried to cross a river in northeastern Ukraine last week is emerging as among the deadliest engagements of the war, with estimates based …

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Post, CBS News, WTOP News, Associated Press, Insider, UPI, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Muzzle Velocity and The Daily Wire

Los Angeles Times:

‘Why? Why our community?’: Laguna Woods shattered by mass shooting at church — Cindy Frazier was running errands Sunday afternoon when she heard the overwhelming sound of police and fire engine sirens as they raced to Geneva Presbyterian Church. — It was an unusual scene …

Discussion: Insider

Los Angeles Times:

Churchgoers subdued, hog-tied gunman after deadly Laguna Woods church shooting — A gunman attacked a lunch banquet at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, killing one person and wounding five others Sunday before congregants hogtied him with an extension cord and disarmed him of two weapons, authorities said.

Discussion: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Orange County Register, Insider, The Daily Wire, CBS News, RedState, Mediaite, Twitchy, UPI and The Daily Beast

Jonathan Lemire / Politico:

Biden starts conceding that the bygone era of D.C. may, indeed, be gone — The fever didn't break. And for the Biden White House, efforts at bipartisanship have finally taken a backseat. — To the frustration of many Democrats and some of his closest advisers, President Joe Biden …

Discussion: Breitbart, Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Post, The Hill, The Guardian and The Daily Wire

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

Making Sense of the Racist Mass Shooting in Buffalo — An expert on the white-power movement and the “great replacement” theory puts the act of terror in context. — On Saturday, a gunman murdered ten people and wounded three others at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

Financial Times:

Ukraine war is ‘best opportunity’ for nuclear comeback since Fukushima, industry says — Domestically generated power is geopolitically safer than gas imports, according to Japan's largest reactor maker — Russia's war in Ukraine has created the “best opportunity” for Japan's nuclear industry …

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, Fox News and Agence France-Presse

New York Times:

After Buffalo Shooting Video Spreads, Social Platforms Face Questions — Gunmen say they are influenced by online screeds and broadcasts of past shootings. Do social media sites have a responsibility to rein in hateful and violent content? — In March 2019, before a gunman murdered 51 people …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, Bloomberg, The Hill, New York Post and CBS News, more at Techmeme »

Talia Lavin / Rolling Stone:

The Buffalo Shooter Isn't a ‘Lone Wolf.’ He's a Mainstream Republican — The shooter is just the latest to act on it — There's no such thing as a lone wolf — an appellation often given, in error, to terrorists who act alone, particularly those of the white supremacist variety.

Discussion: HuffPost, The Guardian, The Signorile Report, Join Andrew, Daily Kos and Fox News

Wall Street Journal:
The Massacre in Buffalo — Another deranged young shooter kills 10 in an act of ‘pure evil.’

Discussion: Mediaite

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Opinion The Black victims of the Buffalo shooting were killed by white supremacy

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:
Grief and Anger Sweep Through Buffalo a Day After a Racist Massacre

Discussion: Buffalo News, Washington Post, CNN, Raw Story, PolisPandit, New York Post, NPR, The Guardian, WIVB-TV, UPI, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo and Law & Crime

Josephine Harvey / HuffPost:
CNN Host Asks Fauci Whether He'd Stay In His Post If Trump Was Reelected

Discussion: al.com and Twitchy

Jason Stanley / The Guardian: Buffalo shooting: how white replacement theory keeps inspiring mass murder

Dan Merica / CNN:
Pennsylvania US Senate candidate Fetterman suffers stroke but says he's ‘well on my way to a full recovery’

Brad Dress / The Hill: Fauci says he would not serve under Trump again

Erie County (New York) Government:
Broome County Teen Arraigned for Killing Ten, Injuring Three in Shooting at Buffalo Grocery Store

Discussion: Democrat and Chronicle, CNN, Fox News, WIVB-TV, Law & Crime, The Guardian, Twitchy, The Daily Beast, National Review, The Hill, The Western Journal and Washington Examiner

Adrian Carrasquillo / Newsweek: Can Val Demings Defeat Marco Rubio and Overcome Democrats' Florida Malaise?

Associated Press:
California churchgoers detained gunman in deadly attack

Discussion: BizPac Review, Umar's Newsletter, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, RedState, GOSPILLED, Deseret News, Townhall, WKBN-TV, Associated Press and BNO News

Salena Zito / Washington Examiner:
As Barnette raises doubts in PA Senate race, some voters move back toward McCormick

Discussion: Fox News, Breitbart and Political Wire

Glenn Greenwald:
The Demented - and Selective - Game of Instantly Blaming Political Opponents For Mass Shootings

Discussion: The Racket News, lewrockwell.com and Conservative Brief

Azi Paybarah / New York Times:
Kathy Barnette Says She 'Can't Provide a Lot of Context' for Her Anti-Islamic Tweets

Discussion: Big League Politics, Fox News and Politico

Eric Topol / Ground Truths:
The Covid Capitulation — As the virus accelerates its evolution, humans retrogress

Discussion: The Guardian

Associated Press:
Buffalo shooter targeted Black neighborhood, officials say

Burgess Everett / Politico:
McConnell takes on MAGA with Ukraine visit

Discussion: Axios, The Dispatch, Washington Post, The Hill, Townhall, The Daily Wire, TheBlaze, Associated Press, Raw Story and The Liberty Whip

CNN:
What we know about Buffalo supermarket shooting suspect Payton Gendron

Discussion: Salon, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, Crooks and Liars, Breitbart, Raw Story, Another Adam and New York Post

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Democracy is at stake in the midterms. The media must convey that.

Discussion: NBC News

Buffalo News:
Gunman, 18, drove more than 3 hours to Buffalo to commit hate crime, officials say

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, RedState, BizPac Review, pjmedia.com, New York Post, New York Daily News and Washington Post

Maki Becker / Buffalo News:
Katherine ‘Kat’ Massey: ‘We lost a powerful voice’

Discussion: NPR, The Hill and NewsOne

Elena Schneider / Politico:

Where megadonors are spending big money to shape the Democratic Party's future — House Democratic primaries are drawing record cash — even as they're almost guaranteed to lose their majority. — Super PACs and other organizations have already dropped more than $53 million …

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times: The Little Red Boxes Making a Mockery of Campaign Finance Laws

Parmy Olson / Washington Post:

Google Is Sharing Our Data at a Startling Scale — Along with the Pixel phones, watches and earbuds at Google's annual showcase of software and devices last week came a pair of nifty-looking translation glasses. Put them on and real-time “subtitles” appear on the lenses as you watch a person speaking in a different language.

Lauren Hirsch / New York Times:

After 32 years, McDonald's Plans to Sell Its Russia Business — “This is a complicated issue that's without precedent and with profound consequences,” Chris Kempczinski, the chief executive of McDonald's, wrote in a message to franchises that was obtained by The Times.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Washington Post:

What everyone gets wrong about evangelicals and abortion — Evangelicals started speaking out against legal abortion long before the late 1970s — In the wake of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, a familiar narrative has emerged.

Wall Street Journal:

Jeff Bezos Criticizes Joe Biden in Twitter Spat Over Inflation — The Amazon founder blames Democrats' stimulus packages for rising prices — Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos criticized the Biden administration in two tweets over the weekend for tying the corporate tax structure to rising inflation.

Discussion: Louder With Crowder and RedState

Adam Wren / Politico:

Pence returns from the GOP dead — Mike Pence's plan is working. — After years of loyal service and genuflecting as Donald Trump's former No. 2, Pence is capitalizing on carefully choreographed split screens with his former boss on everything from endorsements and appearances to policy and photo-ops.