(WASHINGTON) — House’s Jan. 6 committee announces next hearing date; expected to focus on who was in Capitol mob
Tal Axelrod and Adam Carlson, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating Jan. 6 on Tuesday announced its next hearing: July 12 beginning at 10 a.m. ET.
The panel has been holding a series of public hearings since last month related to its year-long inquiry into the events before, during and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters.
It has not yet been announced who will be testifying on July 12. The past hearings have stretched for several hours.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the panel, indicated over the weekend that the next hearing would focus on the formation of the mob that ultimately descended on the Capitol last year, including the participation of several far-right groups.
“Who was participating, who was financing it, how it was organized, including the participation of these white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters, and others,” Schiff said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who served as the lead impeachment manager for the House proceedings against then-President Donald Trump after the insurrection, is anticipated to play a large role.
The last hearing featured lengthy testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Trump’s last White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Hutchinson’s appearance sparked days of criticism of Trump — including from other conservatives — after she testified that the former president was aware that attendees of his speech at the Ellipse earlier on Jan. 6 were armed before he asked for security measures to be reduced and ultimately urged them to march to the Capitol. Hutchinson also testified that when the Secret Service would not take Trump to the Capitol after his speech, he lunged for the steering wheel of his SUV and then at the neck of a Secret Service agent.
Trump adamantly denied her account. The Secret Service said it would cooperate fully with the panel, “including by responding on the record,” if investigators had any follow up questions over the alleged incident.
Other hearings the committee has held have focused on the Capitol insurrection itself; on Trump allies’ awareness that his voter fraud claims were false; and on the pressure campaign by Trump and those in his orbit to push states to not certify now-President Joe Biden’s win.
In her testimony last week, Hutchinson said she had heard chatter about the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers — two prominent far-right groups — in the days leading up to Trump’s speech at the Ellipse. She said that Rudy Giuliani, who was then Trump’s personal lawyer, was frequently seen around the White House at the same time.
Leaders of both the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have been charged with seditious conspiracy over the groups’ roles in last year’s riot.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has filed suit against Arizona challenging its recently enacted voting law that requires proof of citizenship in order to vote in presidential elections.
The lawsuit contends that certain restrictions in Arizona’s House Bill 2492 directly violate Section 6 of the National Voter Registration Act and Section 101 of the Civil Rights Act.
The Supreme Court previously rejected an effort by Arizona in 2013 to require its residents to provide proof of citizenship in order to participate in federal elections, though after President Joe Biden’s victory against Donald Trump in 2020 the state quickly sought to implement a similar mandate in passing House Bill 2492.
“Arizona has passed a law that turns the clock back on progress by imposing unlawful and unnecessary requirements that would block eligible voters from the registration rolls for certain federal elections,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement Tuesday announcing the lawsuit.
Gov. Doug Ducey signed the bill into law on March 30.
“Election integrity means counting every lawful vote and prohibiting any attempt to illegally cast a vote,” Ducey wrote in a letter at the time he signed the bill. “H.B. 2492 is a balanced approach that honors Arizona’s history of making voting accessible without sacrificing security in our elections.”
Republicans have a slight majority in both the state Senate and House of Representatives.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit asks for a federal judge to prohibit several provisions of HB 2492 from being enforced.
In a press release, the Justice Department notes the new law with violate the Civil Rights Act “by requiring election officials to reject voter registration forms based on errors or omissions that are not material to establishing a voter’s eligibility to cast a ballot.”
Arizona requires voters to prove they are a U.S. citizen when they register to vote — the only state to do so — by providing a government-issued identification, like a driver’s license, tribal ID or passport. The 2013 Supreme Court ruling allowed the requirement for state elections, but Arizona cannot require proof of citizenship for federal elections, like president.
Arizona is one of the states where Trump has falsely contended he won in 2020. Biden defeated Trump by about 10,000 votes. A GOP-led review of the vote tally in Maricopa County, the state’s largest, reaffirmed Biden’s victory, and even increased his lead by a slight amount.
ABC News’ Mark Osborne contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating Jan. 6 on Tuesday announced its next hearing: July 12 beginning at 10 a.m. ET.
The panel has been holding a series of public hearings since last month related to its year-long inquiry into the events before, during and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
The most recent hearing featured lengthy testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Trump’s last White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — As Abby Brosio stood with her father-in-law watching the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, on Monday morning, a hail of bullets began to fly from top of the building directly across the street.
“I remember looking around to try to figure out where the sound was coming from,” Brosio told “Good Morning America” on Tuesday morning. “And I, in fact, looked up at the neighboring business across the street and saw the shooter on the roof and I just screamed that it was a shooter.”
She said she saw “long hair and a gun.” As she turned to pull her 1-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son into Gearhead Outfitters, a store managed by her husband, Tony, she was grazed by a bullet, she said.
Her father-in-law was shot in the leg, she said.
Six people were killed and more than 24 others were injured in Monday’s mass shooting in Highland Park, a suburb north of Chicago, according to officials. Police said on Monday they took into custody a 22-year-old person of interest, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, in connection with the incident.
Tony Brosio was inside Gearhead Outfitters as the shooting began. As parade spectators rushed the store, looking to take cover, he helped coordinate. Video from inside the store shows crowds running inside. Some stumble, others glance behind them.
“We were just trying to get as many people as we possibly could inside,” he told “GMA” on Tuesday. “Like I said, it was just instinct.”
Both the Brosios had the feeling that it “could never happen” to them that they’d be in an active shooting situation, he said.
“You alway have that, ‘It could never happen here,'” he said. “It just did.”
“It was like a dream. All I could say to myself was, ‘This isn’t real,'” Abby said.
As Abby and her father-in-law reached the safety of Gearhead Outfitters, she realized that they’d both been hit by bullets, she said. Both were taken to a local hospital and later released, she said.
(WASHINGTON) — Four U.S. Army veterans were awarded with the Medal of Honor Tuesday for their “acts of gallantry and intrepidity” during the Vietnam War half a century ago — after their cases got a fresh review.
President Joe Biden presented Specialist 5 Dwight W. Birdwell, Major John J. Duffy and Specialist 5 Dennis M. Fujii with the nation’s highest military honor at a White House ceremony on Tuesday morning. John Kaneshiro, the son of Staff Sergeant Edward N. Kaneshiro, accepted the award on his late father’s behalf.
The awards come after the Army concluded the decorated veterans’ previous honors should be elevated to the Medal of Honor, the United States military’s most prestigious award for bravery and heroism.
“Today, we’re setting the record straight. We’re upgrading the awards of four soldiers who performed acts of incredible heroism during the Vietnam conflict to respect the conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity of their service,” Biden said. “They went far above and beyond the call of duty. It’s a phrase always used but it just — it takes on life when you see these men.”
“Today’s ceremony presented a poignant reminder of the sacrifices of the service members who served with these men, especially those who never made it home,” the Congressional Medal of Honor Society said in a statement welcoming the recipients. “These newest Medal of Honor recipients wear the Medal on behalf of those who were lost and those whose freedom was secured by their sacrifice.”
Birdwell, who is also a former Cherokee Nation Supreme Court justice, becomes the first Native American honored for action in Vietnam and the first to receive the award for action in any conflict since 1973. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin introduced a directive last year ordering the Secretaries of the Military Departments to review Black and Native American war veterans for upgrades to the Medal of Honor.
“It’s a point of great pride for the Cherokee people and I think all native people to see a Native American get this honor,” Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin told ABC News in an interview. “I think about the fact that Dwight Birdwell represents thousands of Native Americans who have served this country in military service since the 1970s and even before at such high numbers, disproportionately high numbers. I think it’s fitting and high time that someone get the Medal of Honor who’s a Native American.”
On Jan. 31, 1968, Birdwell moved directly into the line of fire, getting wounded in the process, to retrieve ammunition for his fellow soldiers.
Birdwell told ABC News his time in the Army gave him “a sense of discipline, enhanced respect for life, more respect for nature, and respect for people beyond the boundaries of this country.”
“Someone asked me if I feel like a hero. I don’t feel like I am, but I served with plenty, especially that day, and [I’m] honored to have served with them,” Birdwell said. “I’m really overwhelmed by the whole process. But again, proud for the Cherokee people, proud for the unit I served with, and personally very satisfied that it came about.”
In a 1972 battle for Fire Support Base Charlie, Duffy directed defense and facilitated the air evacuation of his team while under attack. He was the last to board an aiding helicopter.
“It’s a great honor. Each of those awards are appreciated, and recognizing your endeavors, your duty that you’ve done, and the pride you have in your uniform that you’ve earned in combat,” he said of his nomination. “And the same disciplines that applied in battle applied in life, whether it’s being a broker or any other occupation, journalist, etc., you’re focused, you’re trying to tell a story and you’re trying to do your job. So you learn discipline in the military — not just the Army but all the military — that serves you forever throughout life.”
After retiring from the Army, Duffy went on to work in publishing and finance before focusing on poetry. The Pulitzer Prize nominee’s works are engraved on two monuments.
In February 1971, Fujii served as crew chief of a helicopter ambulance. He is being honored for his role in several evacuations and tireless treatment of wounded Vietnamese military along the allied perimeter, even after a series of failed attempts to rescue him following a helicopter crash. Throughout this time, he directed strikes and defense until his eventual rescue.
“I was overwhelmed…the news it really shocked me,” Fujii told KITV. “I mean, to be congratulated by the president himself, the commander in chief, that’s something.”
On Dec. 1, 1966, Kaneshiro defended his squad in the trenches from enemy fire using six grenades and a rifle, allowing for their successful extrication.
Naomi Viloria and John Kaneshiro were young children when their father was killed in action on March 6, 1967. Viloria was 8 years old and her brother, who went on to enlist in the Army after high school, was only 4 months old.
“I didn’t know him. So you know, I didn’t have that father figure, but just reading the actions that he did in newspaper articles of the period, that told me he was a man of character,” he said. “So, you know, you put that together and say, ‘Wow, you know, I hope I can be like him.'”
Viloria told ABC News their family has worked for decades to have his actions reviewed and nearly gave up.
“But then finally, this year, right after my mother passed away, we were notified that his combat record was being under review and he could possibly be awarded the Medal of Honor, and I finally got the call from President Biden,” she said, adding that the family was “overjoyed” to hear the news.
“I think for us now, our family, it’s an honor that America has suggested we recognize his selflessness, his courageousness in the face of adversity,” John Kaneshiro said. “We’re happy that he was recognized, finally.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Cindy Smith, and Abby Cruz contributed to this report.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Two police officers were shot during a Fourth of July fireworks show and concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on Monday. Both officers were treated and released from the hospital later that night, according to police.
Sergio Diggs, 36, an officer assigned to highway patrol, received a graze wound to the forehead, police said. The round stopped in the officer’s hat. He is a 13-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department.
The other officer, John Foster, who was assigned to the Montgomery County Bomb Squad, sustained a gunshot wound to the right shoulder. The 44-year-old, who has 16 years of service, was present to work security at the event, as was the other injured officer.
The officers were standing on the sidewalk at the base of the Art Museum steps when the shooting began.
They both were transferred to the Jefferson University Hospital for treatment, according to WPVI, and police said they have been released.
The shooting took place in Center City on Monday night. The city Office of Emergency Management advised on Twitter to avoid the area.
This marks at least the second incident of gun violence around an Independence Day celebration in the United States, after at least six were killed in a shooting at a parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
A suspect in the Philadelphia shooting has not yet been named or arrested. Police said they are still investigating the shooting. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of the armed suspect, according to WPVI.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said at a late-night press conference that it had been “a laid-back, chill day” — “but we live in America.”
“If I had the ability to take care of guns,” he said, “I would.”
(FULTON COUNTY, Ga.) — The Fulton County special grand jury investigating possible criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 elections has issued subpoenas for Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and several others in former President Donald Trump’s orbit.
Others who were issued subpoenas include John Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesbro and Jenna Ellis, all of whom advised Trump on ways to overturn President Joe Biden’s win in Georgia.
The special grand jury also subpoenaed attorney and podcast host Jacki Pick Deason.
The development was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, testified in front of Georgia lawmakers on several occasions in late 2020.
Eastman, who part of a plan to push then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the official slate of Democratic electors in Georgia and other battleground states, also testified in front of Georgia’s legislators following the election, saying that there was “more than enough” evidence of fraud to warrant a different slate of electors.
At the end of its investigation, the special grand jury conducting the probe will, if appropriate, make recommendations to prosecutors, who would then need to decide whether to pursue any charges.
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — A gunman opened fire on a Fourth of July parade in an affluent suburb north of Chicago on Monday, killing at least seven people and injuring more than two dozen others, including children.
Five of the victims died at the scene of the shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, while one died at a hospital, according to officials. On Tuesday afternoon, a seventh victim succumbed to their injuries at Evanston Hospital, officials said.
The Northshore University Hospital system, which includes Evanston, Glenbrook, Highland Park and Skokie hospitals. treated a total of 39 patients from the scene, according to hospital officials.
Highland Park Hospital admitted 25 people with gunshot wounds, 19 of whom were treated and discharged. The others were in “more serious condition,” said Dr. Brigham Temple, medical director of emergency preparedness.
The wounded ranged in age from 8 to 85, according to Temple. One child was taken to Evanston, for further treatment and another was medically evacuated to the University of Chicago Hospital, about 30 miles south of Highland Park.
As of Tuesday, eight patients remained hospitalized in the Northshore facilities, officials said.
Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, some 8 miles north of Highland Park, said it received nine patients from the shooting, including six gunshot victims. Five were discharged and the remaining four are in good or fair condition, according to the hospital.
Here’s what we know so far about the people who were killed.
Jacki Sundheim
Jacki Sundheim, a dedicated congregant and worker at her synagogue, North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois, was shot and killed at the Independence Day parade in Highland Park, according to the synagogue.
In a statement, the North Shore Congregation Israel described Sundheim as a “beloved” staff member who spent her early days teaching preschool and her entire life worshipping at the synagogue.
“There are no words sufficient to express the depth of our grief for Jacki’s death and sympathy for her family and loved ones,” the synagogue said.
Nicolas Toledo, 73
Nicolas Toledo was one of the slain victims from the parade, according to his family.
“My grandpa was a funny man. He’d always joke around and be playful with his grandkids. He arrived [at] the U.S. in the ’80s and worked around the Highland Park area for many years. He spent his last days swimming and fishing and being among family,” Toledo’s grandson, David Toledo, told ABC News in a statement.
Stephen Straus, 88
Stephen Straus was killed during the shooting, according to his son John Straus.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie, Caroline Guthrie and Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.
(BOSTON) — Boston officials are responding to the growing threat of white supremacists, just days after Patriot Front members marched through the city and reportedly assaulted a Black man.
“We know these threats are continuing to escalate across the country, and that Boston must be the leading light in how we are acting in a coordinated way and tackling and supporting our community members,” said Mayor Michelle Wu Tuesday. She joined officials from the local and state police departments, the FBI and the attorney general’s office to discuss impending actions of known extremist groups.
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks hate groups nationwide, has called Patriot Front a white supremacist group that spreads racism, antisemitism, and other forms of hate online. The ADL says the group is focused on “preserving America’s identity as a European-American one.”
The group marched in Boston on Saturday with concealed faces and flags, wearing shirts that read “Reclaim America.”
U.S. District Attorney Rachael Rollins said officials “are working hard to make sure that if there are any federal charges we can bring or if there are any state charges that can be brought — we will be looking at this. We don’t want to wait until there’s violence. If there are threats we will charge those as well.”
They will not yet release the information shared at the briefing to the public. Joseph R. Bonavolonta, the Special Agent in Charge, told reporters at the presser that the government cannot track or monitor domestic groups based on their ideology, but can take action based on the threat or execution of violence.
Officials said they plan to question officers’ actions during the march, asking themselves “if this was a Black Lives Matter protest, would the response have been different than this white supremacist group?”
Black community leaders in Boston marked the Fourth of July by denouncing racism and showing support for a man who says he was assaulted by Patriot Front members.
Police say a Black man reported that he was assaulted during the march, after the man said he was trying to record the group on his cellphone. In the police report sent to ABC News by Boston Police Department officials, the man said Patriot Front members with shields began to surround and shove him after he started to record.
When he tried to shove back in order to free himself, he was knocked to the ground, kicked and beaten, the police report said.
The man suffered lacerations to his head, arms and hands, and was treated at a nearby hospital, according to the report. No arrests have been made.
The man later identified himself as Charles Murrell, an artist and social justice organizer. He spoke Monday at a gathering of Black leaders and urged listeners to attend local events about race, diversity and justice.
“There are ambassadors, artists, and people who care about the city and the image of this city, that have been doing the work, and we are inviting you to come share space with us,” Murrell said.
Mawakana Onifade, a friend and mentor of Murrell, said, “We will always stand in the face of the new Klan, there’s no mistake about this. When one covers one’s face, we know what is behind that.”
Local Black leaders called Patriot Front the “children of the KKK.”
“We’re not surprised. Boston has had a long legacy of racism,” said Reverend Kevin Peterson. “In fact, the city was founded on racism. Slaves were imported here. And that legacy continues into 2022.”
Leaders are calling on Wu to act quickly against the spread of hateful and dangerous ideologies.
“We can’t look at this as the new age. This is the old age that needs to be dismantled,” said Onifade. “Mayor Wu, what are you going to really do besides the words that we have been reading about. What is the call to action? Where is the accountability?”
Wu has condemned the march, tweeting that the “disgusting hate of white supremacists has no place here.”
In a statement, Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn warned about growing white supremacist sentiment in the region.
“It is wholly repugnant to once again read reports and see videos on social media about dozens of Neo Nazis making another brazen public display with their hateful ideology,” Flynn wrote. “They have continued to make their presence known, most recently in March at the St. Patrick’s Day parade,” when Patriot Front members reportedly held up a “Keep Boston Irish” banner.
Wu said the investigation into the latest incident is ongoing and is being spearheaded by the city’s Civil Rights Unit. Because Patriot Front members had their face covered, officials at the Tuesday press conference say it adds a layer of difficulty to cracking the case. However, law enforcement officials say they are still looking for the culprits, even if they came to the city from out of state.
“We’re looking into their identities and there already has been some information shared in various parts about the national leaders of this group who were part of this effort, who were in town, were present at the recent events as this group has gone to terrorize other communities as well,” Wu said in a Monday news conference on the incident.
(CHICAGO) — Authorities believe Monday’s mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, had been planned for weeks, and they say more than 70 rounds were fired from the gunman’s high-powered rifle, which was similar to an AR-15.
The 21-year-old suspect, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, is accused of opening fire from a roof of a business, which he accessed from a fire escape ladder, police said.
Six people were killed and over 30 were injured in the suburban Chicago shooting.
Police said Crimo wore women’s clothing during the shooting to apparently allow him to hide his facial tattoos and blend in with the crowd to flee.
“Following the attack Crimo exited the roof, he dropped his rifle and he blended in with the crowd and he escaped,” police said Tuesday. “He walked to his mother’s home who lived in the area and he blended right in with everybody else.”
It appears Crimo bought the high-powered rifle legally in Illinois, police said.
No motive is known, police said. When asked by reporters if the gunman targeted anyone specifically, police said the “shooting appears to be completely random.”
Crimo is answering questions from investigators and has made statements taking responsibility for the attack, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
Crimo — who was apprehended Monday evening after an hours-long manhunt — is believed to be linked to social media posts that discuss or depict acts of violence, including shooting people, a law enforcement source briefed on the case told ABC News.
Online posts include a video showing what appears to be a portion of the same parade route where the shooting took place.
In a video posted over a year ago to his YouTube page, Crimo is shown in what appears to be a depiction of the aftermath of a school shooting.
Crimo had been living with his uncle, Paul Crimo, but the two barely interacted beyond exchanging hellos, Paul Crimo told ABC News.
Paul Crimo said he last spoke to his nephew the evening before the shooting and said he was shocked to learn about his alleged involvement.
He described his nephew as quiet and respectful and said the 21-year-old never mentioned firearms.
The mass shooting broke out when Highland Park’s parade was about three-quarters of the way through Monday morning, authorities said.
Revelers fled in panic, leaving behind empty strollers, overturned chairs and half-eaten sandwiches.
When the gunfire erupted, parade-goer Zoe Nicole Pawelczak grabbed her dad and started running through the sea of people.
“I saw multiple people slaughtered,” she told ABC News.
“Everybody is crying. We ended up making it behind a corner and we hid behind a dumpster. This man was there with his two very young children and he had put them in the dumpster for safety,” she said.
Pawelczak said the man wanted to leave to find his other son, and asked her to watch the two children in the dumpster.
“So I watched his kids for him,” she said. “They were like, ‘What’s going on?’ And I was like, ‘It’s just fireworks, it’s OK,’ just trying to keep them calm.”
Dr. David Baum was watching his grandson, daughter and son-in-law march in the parade when the gunfire began.
“Bodies were horribly, horribly, horribly injured from, you know, guns and bullets that were made for war — not for parades,” Baum said of some of the victims.
“The paramedics went quickly and assessed the damages — saw bodies that were blown apart and put a blanket over them quickly. And then went on to try and help other people,” he told ABC News. “These are injuries that nobody should have to see.”
Five people — all adults — died at the scene and a sixth adult died at a hospital, officials said.
Crimo was at large for hours after the shooting. After police released an image of Crimo and his car Monday evening, he was spotted driving and led police on a brief pursuit, authorities said.
He was stopped at U.S. Highway 41 and Westleigh Road in Lake Forest, Illinois, where he surrendered, according to police.
A second weapon, also purchased legally by Crimo, was found in the car, police said.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that he “surged Federal law enforcement to assist in the urgent search for the shooter.”
“Members of the community should follow guidance from leadership on the ground, and I will monitor closely as we learn more about those whose lives have been lost and pray for those who are in the hospital with grievous injuries,” Biden said.
He noted that he recently signed into law the most significant gun control legislation in decades, adding, “But there is much more work to do, and I’m not going to give up fighting the epidemic of gun violence.”
Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement, “On what should be a celebratory day with family and friends, we are grieving the lives that were taken in another act of senseless gun violence.”
“More should be done to address gun violence in our country,” she said. “President Biden recently signed into law the first major bipartisan gun reform legislation in almost 30 years — and we will continue fighting to end this senseless violence.”
An impassioned Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said, “It is devastating that a celebration of America was ripped apart by our uniquely American plague. A day dedicated to freedom has put into stark relief the one freedom we as a nation refuse to uphold: the freedom of our fellow citizens to live without the daily fear of gun violence.”
“I’m furious that yet more innocent lives were taken by gun violence. I’m furious that their loved ones are forever broken by what took place today. I’m furious that children and their families have been traumatized,” he said. “While we celebrate the Fourth of July just once a year, mass shootings have become our weekly — yes, weekly — American tradition. There are going to be people who say that today is not the day that now is not the time, to talk about guns. I’m telling you there is no better day and no better time than right here and right now.”
“Our founders carried muskets, not assault weapons. And I don’t think a single one of them would have said that you have a Constitutional right to an assault weapon with a high-capacity magazine — or that that is more important than the right of the people who attended this parade today to live,” the governor said.
Representatives of the gun reform group March For Our Lives, founded by survivors of the 2018 high school mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, said in a statement, “Just three weeks ago, young people organized a March For Our Lives in Highland Park, along with communities across the country.”
“We are grieving for the horrific loss of life in Highland Park, and the carnage brought on by a high-powered rifle,” they said. “We wish eternal peace for those who were murdered, and we will fight like hell for the living.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is among the leaders reacting to the nation’s latest mass shooting, tweeting, “Not even a parade on the Fourth of July celebrating our nation’s independence is immune from our nation’s gun violence epidemic. Tomorrow, I will sign seven sweeping commonsense gun safety bills into law. We cannot wait.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that the U.S. must “address the epidemic of targeted gun violence, including the development and implementation of new community-based models of prevention and intervention.”
“The Department of Homeland Security will redouble its work in this critical area and help lead the effort to prevent violence,” he vowed.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Josh Margolin, Pierre Thomas, Aaron Katersky, Alex Perez, Jack Date, Will Steakin, Jeff Cook, Will McDuffie and Caroline Guthrie contributed to this report.
