In the news today: The FBI interviewed the Georgia high school shooting suspect last year; prominent right-wing influencers were duped to work for a Russian influence operation; and a new wave of Chinese migrants are leaving their country for Mexico. Also, a TikTok creator is trying to trademark “very demure, very mindful.” |
Mourners during a candlelight vigil for the slain students and teachers at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
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Teen charged with killing 4 at Georgia high school had been focus of earlier tips about threats
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More than a year ago, tips about online posts threatening a school shooting led Georgia police to interview a 13-year-old boy, but investigators didn’t have enough evidence for an arrest. On Wednesday, that boy opened fire at his high school outside Atlanta, killing four people and wounding nine, officials said. Read more.
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The teen has been charged as an adult in the deaths of Apalachee High School students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and instructors Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at a news conference.
Armed with an assault-style rifle, the teen turned the gun on students in a hallway at the school when classmates refused to open the door for him to return to his algebra classroom, classmate Lyela Sayarath said. Two school resource officers encountered the shooter within minutes of a report of shots fired, Hosey said. The teen immediately surrendered and was taken into custody.
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The teen had been interviewed after the FBI received anonymous tips in May 2023 about online threats to commit an unspecified school shooting, the agency said in a statement. The FBI referred the case to the sheriff’s department in Jackson County and the sheriff’s office interviewed the then-13-year-old and his father, who said there were hunting guns in the house but the teen did not have unsupervised access to them. The teen also denied making any online threats. Authorities were still looking into how the teen obtained the gun used in the shooting and got it into the school.
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Right-wing influencers were duped into working for covert Russian influence operation, US says
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They have millions of followers online. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they worked unknowingly for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation, U.S. prosecutors say. Read more. |
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An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions.”
It is the third straight presidential election in which U.S. authorities have unveiled politically charged details about Russia’s attempted interference in U.S. politics. U.S. officials have previously warned of Russia’s use of unwitting Americans to further influence operations in the 2024 election, but the indictment is the most detailed description of those efforts to date.
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The U.S. Justice Department doesn’t allege any wrongdoing by the influencers. Instead, it accuses two employees of RT, a Russian state media company, of funneling nearly $10 million to a Tennessee-based content creation company for Russia-friendly content.
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A new surge of Chinese migrants include thousands heading to Mexico
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A new wave of Chinese migrants are leaving their country in search of opportunities, more freedom or better financial prospects. Many are heading to Mexico and planning to start their own businesses there, taking advantage of the country’s proximity to the U.S. Read more. |
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While the U.S. Border Patrol has arrested tens of thousands of Chinese at the U.S.-Mexico border over the past year, thousands are making Mexico their final destination. Unlike earlier generations of Chinese who came to northern Mexico from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, the new arrivals are more likely to come from all over China.
Last year, Mexico’s government issued 5,070 temporary residency visas to Chinese immigrants, twice as many as the previous year — making China third, behind the United States and Colombia, as the source of migrants granted the permits.
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Data from the latest 2020 census by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography show that Chinese immigrants are mainly concentrated in Mexico City. In downtown Mexico City, Chinese entrepreneurs have not only opened new wholesale stores but have also taken over dozens of buildings. At times, they have become a source of tension with local businesses and residents, who say the expansion of Chinese-owned enterprises is displacing them.
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TikTok creator Jools Lebron with talk show personality Guillermo Rodriguez on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (Randy Holmes/ABC-Disney via AP)
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She made ‘very demure’ go viral. Now she wants to trademark its use
“Very demure, very mindful” has become the latest vocabulary defining the internet’s summer. And TikTok creator Jools Lebron is working to trademark uses of her now-viral words.
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Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Sarah
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