'You can't even go to the damn store in peace.' Americans grapple with mass shootings.

By Marita Vlachou

Tuesday, May 17

CALIFORNIA CHURCH SHOOTING WAS 'POLITICALLY MOTIVATED HATE': SHERIFF The suspected gunman who opened fire in a California church on Sunday, killing one person and injuring five, is a Chinese American man believed to have targeted Taiwanese congregants in a "politically motivated hate incident," the Orange Country sheriff said. [HuffPost]

BUFFALO SUSPECT PLANNED SECOND KILL SITE The white gunman accused of a racist rampage at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket planned to keep killing at a second location if he escaped the first scene, the police commissioner said. Authorities investigated the massacre of Black people as a hate crime and act of domestic terrorism. The troubled gunman's legal purchase of an assault-style rifle raises new questions about so-called red flag laws. And the continuing rash of American mass killings shows "you can't even go to the damn store in peace," as a Buffalo resident put it. [AP]

AFTER HELPING DEPRESS TWITTER STOCK, ELON MUSK FLOATS POSSIBILITY OF LOWER PURCHASE PRICE After bad-mouthing Twitter last week and helping send stock prices — and company value — down, Elon Musk said a lower purchase price for Twitter is "not out of the question." Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal attempted to explain how the platform deals with spam accounts — a concern Musk raised to justify putting the deal on hold — but Musk did not seem interested, replying with the poop emoji. [HuffPost]

11 REPUBLICAN SENATORS VOTE AGAINST $40 BILLION IN SECURITY ASSISTANCE FOR UKRAINE Eleven Republican senators bucked their leadership and voted against a motion advancing a $40 billion security assistance package for Ukraine, a sign of growing GOP opposition to U.S. efforts aimed at countering Russian President Vladimir Putin's bloody war. The security package isn't expected to pass until later this week because a single Republican senator is objecting to a quick vote. [HuffPost]

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ABBOTT, U.S. OFFICIALS REACH AGREEMENT TO REOPEN BABY FORMULA PLANT Baby formula maker Abbott said it has reached an agreement with U.S. health regulators to restart production at its largest domestic factory, though it will be well over a month before any new products ship from the site to help alleviate the national shortage facing parents. The Food and Drug Administration has been investigating safety concerns after two babies who consumed powdered formula from its Sturgis, Michigan, plant died. [AP]

IN IDAHO, FAR-RIGHT INSURGENCY IS NO LONGER THE FRINGE Imagine a statehouse full of Marjorie Taylor Greenes and Steve Kings, and local school boards and county commissions packed with people angry about everything. That's Idaho, living the dream of a Republican Party totally aligned with extremism. HuffPost's Christopher Mathias takes us on a tour. [HuffPost]

WHITE HOUSE TO LOOSEN CUBA RESTRICTIONS The Biden administration announced it will expand flights to Cuba, take steps to loosen restrictions on U.S. travelers to the island, and lift Trump-era restrictions on remittances that immigrants can send to people on the island. [HuffPost]

TUCKER CARLSON SAYS RACE POLITICS IS 'A SIN,' IGNORES RACIAL CONSPIRACY THEORIES HE'S PUSHED Tucker Carlson condemned a white teenager's racist massacre that killed 13 people at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store. But the Fox News host failed to take accountability for the white supremacist "great replacement" theory he's peddled on prime time for years, instead lambasting Democrats and the media for attacking free speech. [HuffPost]

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE ACKNOWLEDGES HISTORIC MOMENT AS WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made history by taking the lectern as the first Black, openly gay immigrant to hold the prominent position. Jean-Pierre said she "stands on the shoulders" of barrier-breaking people regarding her historic accomplishment at the briefing. [HuffPost]

FOR THIS CHILD OF IMMIGRANTS, POP CULTURE BECAME A GUIDE TO LIFE IN AMERICA HuffPost has a new series: This Made Me, paying tribute to the formative pop culture in our lives. In this piece, HuffPost senior culture reporter Marina Fang describes "teaching" pop culture to herself — and eventually turning it into a career. [HuffPost]