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| THE BIG STORY
Police have so far identified four of the eight victims who were killed by a shooter who attacked three Atlanta-area spas. Here’s what we know about the four identified victims.
The other four victims, all of whom are Asian women, were shot and killed at two Atlanta spas across the street from each other. Though they have not been identified publicly, a spokesperson with the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Atlanta told us four of the victims are of Korean descent.
Authorities say they are working with the consulate to get in touch with the women’s next of kin before identifying them.
👉 Capt. Jay Baker, the cop who said the shooter had a “really bad day,” will no longer be the spokesperson for the case. The sheriff's statement did not directly address Capt. Baker's Facebook posts about a racist T-shirt blaming China for the pandemic.
👉 Meanwhile, one day after the attack, two Asian people were attacked on the street in San Francisco — but one of them fought back, defending herself and injuring her attacker before he was arrested, police said.
👉 Anti-Asian hate crimes have been escalating over the last year, and Asian Americans have been protesting violence against their community for months. A protest against anti-Asian hate crimes at Seattle's Hing Hay Park, March 13. Lindsey Wasson / Reuters HELP US CELEBRATE SUNSHINE WEEK
Sunshine Week is an initiative led by the News Leaders Association, in partnership with other media and civic organizations, to promote access to information and open government.
In celebration of Sunshine Week, we’re extending our FOIA fundraising efforts! Now through March 22, every BuzzFeed News Membership sign up or one-time contribution will go towards our FOIA legal fund.
STAYING ON TOP OF THIS
After the European Medicines Agency reviewed concerns of blood clotting related to the AstraZeneca vaccine, the agency announced that the vaccine is “safe and effective” and should continue to be used.
The agency’s executive director told a press briefing that the committee found a reduced overall incidence of blood clots, compared to the general population, in almost 20 million people given the vaccine so far worldwide.
But the agency said it could not rule out a link with two rare blood-clotting conditions seen in 25 people who were given the vaccine. It added that warnings should be included with information about the vaccine provided to doctors and patients. Nine of the 25 people have died.
EMA will continue investigating these incidents and possible links to the vaccine, but stressed that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine far outweigh any risk of clotting. SNAPSHOTS
A 19-year-old allegedly used Grindr as a “hunting ground” to kill gay men. Heads up: the details of this story are disturbing. Federal authorities charged Chance Seneca, a Louisiana man, with a hate crime after he allegedly used Grindr to lure gay men with the goal of killing them and dismembering their bodies. Seneca was allegedly able to strangle and stab one victim, before changing his mind and calling police.
The Capitol Police released its annual public report. It’s one page long. In the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, officers, lawmakers, and government watchdogs have been demanding more transparency from the Capitol Police — widely seen as the most secretive department in the country. The force’s latest public report is even less transparent than those released in previous years.
A woman claimed Armie Hammer violently raped her, prompting an LAPD investigation. “I thought that he was going to kill me,” the woman, identified only as Effie, said during a virtual press conference with her attorney. Police confirmed that Hammer is the suspect in a sexual assault investigation the department initiated on Feb. 3.
The New York Times is giving up its Cooking Community Facebook Group with 77,000 members. The group has often devolved into drama, debate, and politics, and now the New York Times is looking for volunteer moderators to take over. A NEW AUDIENCE
Facebook is building an Instagram for kids under the age of 13 Right now, Instagram’s policy forbids children under the age of 13 from using the service. But we’ve obtained an internal company post revealing that executives at Instagram are planning to build a version of the app that can be used by children under the age of 13.
The internal post comes two days after Instagram said it needs to do more to protect its youngest users, following coverage and public criticism of the abuse, bullying, or predation faced by teens on the app.
The announcement lays the groundwork for how Facebook — whose family of products is used by 3.3 billion people every month — plans to expand its user base.
According to the post, the project will be led by Pavni Diwanji, a vice president who joined Instagram’s parent company Facebook in December. Previously, Diwanji worked at Google, where she oversaw the search giant’s children-focused products, including YouTube Kids. PRESS PAUSE FOR A MINUTE
Longreads that are worth your time this weekend
Asian women are hypersexualized, so don’t tell me the killings in Atlanta aren’t about race. Tanya Chen wrote about the hypersexualization of Asian women and its relationship to the Georgia shootings: “Asian women are so often two-dimensional fantasies, fantasies that have become so normalized that they’ve fueled sex-kitten anime tropes, specific dom/sub porn genres, and an entire sex work industry. Often, with this sexualization comes a very particular kind of dehumanization.”
I rewatched all of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Here’s what I learned. In preparation for the final season of The Kardashians, Zan Romanoff rewatched the series from the start. Here, she writes about her findings: “A format that was built to promote a basically cheerful, sentimental take on family life is fundamentally ill-equipped to handle the serious questions of addiction, mental illness, and infidelity that it now regularly confronts.”
The Weeknd was onto something. I wrote about the Grammys, a broken institution trying to change, and how despite all of its best efforts, it fell short. Be intentional about celebrating your hard-won victories, Elamin P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (Monthly memberships are available worldwide). 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here. Show privacy notice and cookie policy.
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