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Buffalo mass shooting suspect called ‘coward’ while exiting court hearing

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — As loved ones of the victims looked on, an 18-year-old suspect accused of fatally shooting 10 people in what authorities described as a racially motivated rampage, appeared in court Thursday and was called a “coward” by someone at the hearing.

The suspect, Payton Gendron, entered the Buffalo, New York, City Court wearing an orange jumpsuit, a white face mask and chains on his legs and hands and surrounded by numerous court officers.

Prosecutors said a grand jury had indicted him on first-degree murder, but all the charges remain under seal.

Judge Craig D. Hannah adjourned Thursday’s one-minute hearing. The hearing was scheduled to be a felony hearing, but because Gendron has been indicted, the judge scheduled his next hearing for June 9, when he is expected to be arraigned on charges in the grand jury indictment.

Relatives and family members of victims killed in the shooting at a grocery store Saturday crowded into the courtroom to watch. Gendron entered and left under heavy guard.

A woman in sitting in the courtroom gallery was overheard yelling, “Payton, you’re a coward” as he exited the courtroom.

“The defendant continues to remain held without bail. There will be no further comment from our office until there is a report following an investigation by the Grand Jury,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a statement. “As are all persons accused of a crime, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

No additional charges have been filed.

Gendron made no comments in court.

Gendron was initially charged with one count of murder following Saturday afternoon’s massacre at a Tops Friendly Market in which police officials alleged he intentionally targeted Black people in the attack he planned for months. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered to be held without bail.

Gendron is expected to face additional murder and attempted murder counts and state hate crime charges. The FBI is also conducting a parallel investigation, which the Department of Justice said could lead to federal hate crime and terrorism charges.

During a visit to Buffalo on Tuesday, President Joe Biden called the mass shooting an act of “domestic terrorism.”

All 10 of the people killed in the attack were Black, six women and four men. Three other people were wounded in the shooting, including one Black victim and two white victims.

Investigators said Gendron drove three hours from his home in Conklin, New York, and alleged he spent Friday conducting a final reconnaissance on the store before committing the mass shooting Saturday afternoon.

Authorities allege Gendron was wielding an AR-15-style rifle, dressed in military fatigues, body armor and wearing a tactical helmet with a camera attached when he stormed the store around 2:30 p.m., shooting four people outside the business and nine others inside. Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the suspect fired a barrage of 50 shots during the rampage.

Police said Gendron allegedly livestreamed the attack on the gaming website Twitch before the company took down the live feed two minutes into the shooting.

Among those killed was 55-year-old Aaron Salter Jr., a retired Buffalo police officer who was working as a security guard at the supermarket. Authorities said Salter fired at the gunman, but the bullets had no effect due to the bulletproof vest the suspect wore.

Buffalo police officers arrived at the store one minute after getting the first calls of an active shooter and confronted the suspect, who responded by placing the barrel of the rifle to his chin and threatening to kill himself, according to Gramaglia. He said the officers de-escalated the situation and talked Gendron into surrendering.

Tame Impala & Diana Ross team up for ’Minions 2’ song “Turn Up the Sunshine”

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The long-rumored collaboration between Tame Impala and Diana Ross has finally arrived.

The Australian psychedelic outfit and the R&B icon have teamed up for a new song called “Turn Up the Sunshine.” As previously reported, the track will appear on the ’70s-inspired soundtrack to the upcoming Minions sequel movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru.

You can listen to “Turn Up the Sunshine” now via digital outlets.

In addition to the Tame and Diana collab, the Minions 2 soundtrack includes a host of big-name alternative artists, including St. Vincent, Phoebe Bridgers, Bleachers and Alabama Shakes‘ Brittany Howard. The album was also produced by Jack Antonoff.

You can listen to the whole soundtrack when it’s released July 1, the same day Minions 2 hits theaters.

World ‘woefully’ unprepared for COVID-19 and remains ill-equipped for next pandemic, report finds

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The world was “woefully” unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, and remains vulnerable to the next major “catastrophic” health crisis, a panel created by the World Health Organization concluded.

“COVID-19 is the 21st century’s Chernobyl moment — not because a disease outbreak is like a nuclear accident, but because it has shown so clearly the gravity of the threat to our health and well-being,” experts from the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response wrote in a report, entitled “COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic,” released on Wednesday.

The panel, which is led by former New Zealand Prime Minister and UNDP chief Helen Clark and former Liberian President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, urged immediate action to avert the next pandemic, or else “we will condemn the world to successive catastrophes.”

“It has caused a crisis so deep and wide that presidents, prime ministers and heads of international and regional bodies must now urgently accept their responsibility to transform the way in which the world prepares for and responds to global health threats,” the panel said. “If not now, then when?”

The panel’s extensive investigation revealed “failures and gaps” in governments’ international and national responses, which ultimately failed to protect the public.

“Current institutions, public and private, failed to protect people from a devastating pandemic. Without change, they will not prevent a future one,” the group said.

Experts wrote they remain “deeply concerned” and “alarmed” about the persistently high and widespread levels of COVID-19 transmission across the globe, particularly given the possible emergence of new variants that could continue to “impose an intolerable burden on societies.”

“People are grieving the loss of their loved ones, and those with long-term health impacts from the disease continue to suffer,” the panel wrote. “It does not have to be this way.”

The panel called for immediate investment in pandemic preparedness measures, an improvement of surveillance systems, widespread plans to produce vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and supplies, and access to pandemic-related financial support.

With more than 5.7 billion people in the world over the age of 16, the panel stressed the critical need to support global vaccine access and equity, asserting that “this is not some aspiration for tomorrow — it is urgent, now.”

“Ending this pandemic as quickly as possible goes hand in hand with preparing to avert another one,” they wrote.

“As soon as a health threat or deadly outbreak fades from memory, complacency takes over in what has been dubbed a cycle of panic and neglect. This cycle must end.”

Signed guitars from Neal Schon, Judas Priest, Bob Weir, Dave Mason being auctioned to benefit mental health charity

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Guitars signed by Journey‘s Neal Schon, Judas Priest, The Grateful Dead‘s Bob Weir and former Traffic member Dave Mason are among the items currently up for bid in a benefit auction that will help provide free mental health therapy to members of the music industry in need.

The Backline organization and the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund have teamed up to organize the auction with the hope of raising $100,000 for Sweet Relief’s Music’s Mental Health Fund, which will provide mental health resources to about 250 music industry professionals and their family members.

The sale, which is being hosted by the Propeller social-impact platform, includes a Player Plus Stratocaster guitar signed by Schon, an ESP LTD M-200FM model autographed by the members of Judas Priest, a D’Angelico Excel guitar signed by Weir and a Classic Vibe ’50s Stratocaster autographed by Mason.

The auction also is offering the chance to win tickets to select concerts and events, including front-row seats to Jackson Browne‘s July 26 show at New York City’s famed Beacon Theatre, plus a special merch pack.

To check out the full list of items and to place a bid, visit Propeller.la.

Jason Aldean’s son, Memphis, had to go to the emergency room, but all is well: “Back home and rockin”

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Jason Aldean shared an update with fans this week after his son, Memphis, sustained an injury that landed him in the emergency room. On his Instagram Stories, Jason shared a snapshot of the 4-year-old in a hospital bed.

“Lil man had his first trip to the ER today,” Jason wrote. “Needed 2 stitches and took it like a champ.”

Though Memphis looks a little bit unhappy to be in the hospital in the photo, he’s well on his way toward recovery, with help from an iPad and a bag of kettle corn popcorn. The country superstar assured fans that his son is going to be just fine.

“Back home and rockin,” he added in his post.

Not long before his ER update, Jason shared a few shots of Memphis and his younger sister Navy enjoying life in the family’s new beachside Florida hometown. “As a beach guy, nothing makes me happier than seeing my babies love the water,” he wrote alongside an image of his two young children building sandcastles by the ocean.

Another recent photo shows Memphis with a new toy: a metal detector. “Memphis is on a mission to find some treasure, so we got him a metal detector!” the singer explained, along with #goodluckbuddy.

‘Masked Singer’ winner Teyana Taylor talks her emotional show journey, says it wasn’t just “fun & games”

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Multitalented entertainer Teyana Taylor was crowned the season 7 winner of The Masked Singer on Wednesday night, but the 31-year-old superstar says the road to winning was never something she took lightly.

“It was nothing that I looked at as just, like, fun and games,” she said in an interview following her final performance as the firefly.

The decision to join the show came after the “Rose in Harlem” singer announced she was retiring from music in December 2021. Taylor says she was skeptical about joining the show but looked at the opportunity as an outlet to “sing without politics and judgement.”

“It’s crazy because I was so passionate from day one and I think it’s because of my journey in music,” she said.

Though her journey on the top-secret competition show was an “emotional” one, Taylor says she’s ultimately glad she decided to take part. “It felt so good to win this,” she expressed.

As for her retirement from the music industry — a decision many of her fans aren’t in favor of — Taylor says The Masked Singer is “technically” her last bow, but also “you never know” because she’s now got “a lot of things to think about.”

“So stay tuned,” she says.

Elton John’s ‘Honky Château’ album, featuring “Rocket Man,” celebrates 50th anniversary today

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Elton John‘s classic fifth studio album, Honky Château, was released 50 years ago today, on May 19, 1972.

The album was Elton’s first to top the Billboard 200, spending five consecutive weeks at #1 in July and August of ’72 and beginning a run of six straight chart-topping studio efforts in the U.S. for Elton.

Honky Château included two songs that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, “Rocket Man” — one of Elton’s signature tunes — and “Honky Cat,” which peaked at #6 and #8, respectively.

The album was recorded in France at Château d’Hérouville, an 18th century manor house, and was Elton’s first full album to feature contributions from his classic backing band of guitarist Davey Johnstone, drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray.

Johnstone tells ABC Audio that he had basically just met Olsson and Murray for the first time at the airport before the sessions began, but he says they quickly developed a chemistry while working on the album.

“[W]ith Elton on piano, Nigel on drums, Dee on bass and me on guitars, and then us all doing background vocals, we it had tailor-made,” Johnstone says. “[We were a] four-piece … rocking outfit. And with Bernie Taupin supplying the lyrics, it was like, suddenly we were this unstoppable force.”

Johnstone notes that with everyone staying at the château, songs often would come together very quickly.

“[W]e’d come down in the morning and have a coffee and a baguette or something, and we’d just immediately start rehearsing some of these songs,” Johnstone recalls. “And in some cases, we’d rehearse the song and we’d say, ‘Oh, that sounds great. Let’s just go over to the studio and cut it right now.’… So it was very, very fast.”

Here’s Honky Château‘s full track list:

“Honky Cat”
“Mellow”
“I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself”
“Susie (Dramas)”
“Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)”
“Salvation”
“Slave”
“Amy”
“Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”
“Hercules”

Signed guitars from Neal Schon, Bob Weir, Dave Mason being auctioned to benefit mental health charity

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Guitars signed by Journey‘s Neal Schon, The Grateful Dead‘s Bob Weir and former Traffic member Dave Mason are among the items currently up for bid in a benefit auction that will help provide free mental health therapy to members of the music industry in need.

The sale, which is being hosted by the Propeller social-impact platform, includes a Player Plus Stratocaster guitar signed by Schon, a D’Angelico Excel guitar autographed by Weir and a Classic Vibe ’50s Stratocaster signed by Mason.

To check out the full list of items and to place a bid, visit Propeller.la.

‘The Book of Boba Fett’ creators talk bounty hunter’s turn to the light

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The Book of Boba Fett had the momentum of the title character’s bruising return to the Star Wars universe with The Mandalorian‘s second season episode “The Tragedy” — as well as decades of fan love — but some fans were vocal about the character’s turn in his own Disney+ series.

While the show was billed as the once-feared bounty hunter’s ascension as an intergalactic crime lord, the series, for one thing, didn’t show him doing any crime. In fact, Temuera Morrison‘s faceless, ruthless Mandalorian was routinely portrayed with his helmet off and, arguably, pretty even-keeled.

But while some fans griped their Boba would have left blaster holes in a whole lot of the characters he encountered in the course of the show — particularly those smart-mouthed scooter dandies he later employed — executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni tell Vanity Fair the turn was a natural progression for the “older … wiser” character.

“You think about Don Corleone,” Favreau tells the magazine of Marlon Brando‘s iconic Godfather character. “There’s a tremendous amount of restraint because he knows that to be sustainable, there has to be [peace]. You don’t do well unless there’s some political balance …”

He adds, “You think about what things are off limits. Don Corleone wasn’t just doing everything to line his pockets as he got later into his career. You look at … the flashbacks in The Godfather: Part II, as he’s walking down the streets. He’s seen as somebody … the people respect because of the way he conducts himself.”

Favreau adds, “There’s lots of different ways to run an empire. There’s the Sonny Corleone way, there’s the Michael Corleone way, and then there’s the Vito Corleone way.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Bush condemns ‘unjustified and brutal’ invasion of Iraq, instead of Ukraine, in speech gaffe

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(DALLAS) — Former President George W. Bush had a tongue-tied moment at a speech on Wednesday and millions on social media took notice.

When condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Bush mistakenly referred to the decision to launch an “unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq” before quickly correcting himself to say “Ukraine,” in what was a bungled criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The result is an absence of checks and balances in Russia, and the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq,” said Bush, before catching himself and shaking his head. “I mean — of Ukraine.”

Realizing his mistake, Bush then appeared to say under his breath, “Correct.”

Bush made the comment in a speech at his presidential center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas on Wednesday during an event examining the future of American elections. After a pause, Bush blamed the mistake on his age and the audience laughed.

“Anyway, I’m 75,” he said.

But on Twitter, the reaction to Bush’s inadvertent reference to the most polarizing decision of his administration was mixed, as users revived criticism of his decision to invade and sarcastically riffed on his history of such slip-ups.

Former Rep. Joe Walsh, who ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2020, tweeted as the clip swirled through social media: “All gaffes aside, George W Bush was wrong to invade Iraq. And Putin was wrong to invade Ukraine.”

Another user cracked that “Freud really stepped out of his grave to personally slap the ‘Iraq’ out of Bush’s mouth didn’t he.”

The mixup was widely seen. Since video of Bush’s speech was clipped and tweeted by Dallas News reporter Michael Williams on Wednesday, it has been viewed more than 17 million times.

In his Wednesday remarks, Bush also described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “cool little guy,” deeming him “the [Winston] Churchill of the 21st century.”

As president, Bush oversaw the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 — as part of the post-9/11 conflicts in the Middle East — under the pretext that the country was hiding weapons of mass destruction, or WMDs. Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, was deposed but no weapons were found, and the war officially lasted for nearly a decade.

While the Bush administration argued the fighting was necessary for national security even without the WMDs, it became increasingly unpopular at home. Thousands of U.S. service members and tens of thousands of civilians died.

Bush wrote in his post-White House memoir that he had a “sickening feeling” when he learned there were no WMDs in Iraq after their supposed existence was used as justification for the invasion. He told ABC News’ “World News Tonight” when leaving office in 2008 that the “biggest regret” of his presidency was what he called the “intelligence failure in Iraq.”

When pressed in that interview, Bush declined to “speculate” on whether he would still have gone to war if he knew Iraq didn’t have WMDs. “That is a do-over that I can’t do,” he said.

Nonetheless, he wrote in his memoir, “I strongly believe that removing Saddam from power was the right decision.”

ABC News’ Chris Donovan contributed to this report.

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