Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
For Many Latinos, The Hatred-Driven El Paso Shooting Is 'The Death Of The American Dream'
The New York Times: ‘It Feels Like Being Hunted’: Latinos Across U.S. In Fear After El Paso Massacre
After 22 people were shot to death at a Walmart in El Paso over the weekend, a Florida retiree found herself imagining how her grandchildren could be killed. A daughter of Ecuadorean immigrants cried alone in her car. A Texas lawyer bought a gun to defend his family. For a number of Latinos across the United States, the shooting attack in El Paso felt like a turning point, calling into question everything they thought they knew about their place in American society. (Romero, Dickerson, Jordan and Mazzei, 8/6)
CNN: Shaken By The El Paso Shooting, Latinos Across The US Fear They'll Be Targeted Next
It was something far more terrifying: an ambush, carried out by a gunman who made no secret of his hatred of Latinos. "We're all feeling it. We're all shaken about it," said Vicki Gaubeca, who lives in Tucson, Arizona, and is the executive director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition. "Rhetoric is enabling racists and white supremacists and people who hate the other. It has emboldened them to act out in ways that are extraordinarily violent and hurtful to our communities." (Chavez and Shoichet, 8/6)
NPR: Mass Shootings Can Be Contagious, Research Shows
There were three high-profile shootings across the country in one week: The shooting in Gilroy, Calif., on July 28, and then the back-to-back shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, this past weekend. That's no surprise, say scientists who study mass shootings. Research shows that these incidents usually occur in clusters and tend to be contagious. Intensive media coverage seems to drive the contagion, the researchers say. (Chatterjee, 8/6)
The Washington Post: University Medical Center Of El Paso Treats 15 Of The Most Critically Injured Patients
The first victim was conscious and described the carnage at the El Paso Walmart to doctors. Within moments, though, the emergency room at University Medical Center of El Paso devolved into controlled chaos: “EMS called two, three, four, five, six” patients en route, emergency medicine doctor Nancy Weber recalled. “At that point, we knew that, yes, this was a mass casualty incident — yes, we were going to be getting a lot of patients.” Suddenly, four operating rooms at the hospital were in use as teams of surgeons raced to save people at risk of bleeding to death from multiple gunshot wounds. (Abutaleb, 8/6)
USA Today: Donald Trump Visits Dayton, El Paso Amid Grief Over Mass Shootings
President Donald Trump will travel to Texas and Ohio on Wednesday to meet with the victims of back-to-back shootings that have reopened a pointed debate over whether his own campaign trail rhetoric has contributed to the violence. The shootings in El Paso and Dayton, in which at least 31 people were killed, will once again thrust Trump into the increasingly familiar role of consoling communities reeling from the brutality of the killings while navigating the tricky politics of gun control. (Fritze and Jackson, 8/7)
The Associated Press: El Paso Opens Healing Center As It Prepares For Trump Visit
El Paso opened a grief center on Tuesday to help people cope with last weekend's mass shooting at a Walmart, in which 22 people, nearly all with Latino last names, were killed and many others were wounded. The center opened a day before President Donald Trump was due to visit the border city, much to the chagrin of some Democrats and other residents who say his fiery rhetoric has fostered the kind of anti-immigrant hatred that may have motivated Saturday's attack. A protest rally was planned for Trump's arrival Wednesday that organizers said would confront white supremacy and demand gun control. (Galvan and Weber, 8/6)
NPR: After Mass Shootings, Other Nations Issue Caution About 'Gun Society' In U.S.
Japan's foreign ministry is cautioning its citizens residing in the United States to be alert to "the potential for gunfire incidents" after a spate of mass shootings in recent days. The concern came as at least two other nations – Uruguay and Venezuela — issued travel warnings for the U.S. in the wake of shootings in Gilroy, Calif., Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas, where at least 22 people were killed and some two dozen others wounded in an incident that authorities have said was a targeted attack on immigrants. (Neuman, 8/7)
The Associated Press: Death Penalty Questionable As A Deterrent To Mass Killing
President Donald Trump is calling for new death penalty legislation as an answer to hate crimes and mass killings. But whether that would deter shooters is questionable — especially since most don't live to face trial. More than half the perpetrators of mass shootings since 2006 have ended up dead at the scene of their crimes, either killed by others or dying by suicide, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. (Long, 8/6)
PBS NewsHour: What We Know About The El Paso And Dayton Shooters’ Guns
In two mass shootings over the weekend, gunmen used what police described as semi-automatic, assault-style weapons — carrying enough ammunition to kill dozens in a matter of minutes. Both the guns and the high-volume magazines are controversial. The PBS NewsHour looked at what guns were used in the attacks, and how they might be regulated. (Santhanam, 8/6)
Los Angeles Times: Gilroy Shooter's 'Target List' Spurs Domestic Terrorism Probe
Federal authorities on Tuesday said they had launched a domestic terrorism investigation into the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival after officials discovered the gunman had a list of other potential targets. Among the targets were religious organizations, courthouses, federal buildings and political institutions involving both the Republican and Democratic parties, FBI special agent in charge John F. Bennett said during a news conference. (Fry and Winton, 8/6)
The Washington Post: Photos From Dayton And El Paso Illustrate The Grim Routine Of Mass Shootings
El Paso and Dayton, more than 1,500 miles apart, were nearly indistinguishable in the aftermath of two mass shootings. (8/6)
