In the White House…

Going 211-207, the Congress narrowly passed a new, $1.3 trillion spending bill, successfully avoiding a fourth government shutdown. The bill is 2,000+ pages long. It includes: an increased funding for the Pentagon, the opioid crisis, infrastructure projects and it lets the CDC study gun violence, among many other things. It includes policy changes like one that would incentivize states to enter more records into the country’s gun background check system and another that would cut off aide to the Palestinian Authority until Palestinians cease making payments to the families of terrorists. It does not include a DACA fix. The bill will keep the gov funded through the end of September.

Also, Thursday President Trump said he was swapping National Security Adviser HR McMaster of John Bolton, a Fox News contributor known for his opinionated views on foreign policy and a UN ambassador under George Bush for one year. McMaster and Trump had seen some ideological differences over issues such as the Iran nuclear deal or the Afghanistan conflict. This is at least the sixth person the President has switched from his Cabinet since taking office.

“Arms are for Hugging”

Saturday, the March for Our Lives took place across the U.S., in Washington, D.C., and on our own Raintree plaza in Freehold, NJ. The march was planned by surviving students from last month’s shooting in Parkland, FL. The protesters rallied for stricter gun control legislation. Estimated 200,000 people attended the march in DC. More than 800 similar events took place worldwide.

Stephon Clark

Sacramento police officers shot and killed a 22-year-old black man in his grandmother’s backyard because they believed he was pointing a gun at them. The incident began on Sunday after 9 p.m., when Sacramento officers responded to a report that a man had broken car windows and was hiding in a backyard. The man was described as 6-foot-1, thin and wearing a black hoodie and pants, police said in a statement. The fatal shooting of was recorded by two officers’ body cameras and from a police helicopter; that footage was released Wednesday. Minutes after the shooting, as more officers arrive on the scene, a voice is heard saying, “Hey, mute,” and the audio on the body camera cuts off.The officers fired 20 times at Clark and he was hit multiple times. Police said detectives canvassing the neighborhood found at least three vehicles with damage they say they believe Clark caused

Clark’s death has caused outrage among residents who say the officers should be held accountable for his death. Police have said the officers fired only because they thought their lives were at stake.

A picture of the suspect, Mark Anthony Conditt.

In Austin, Texas…

At least five explosions took place in Austin, Texas this month. Two people had died and five other people were seriously injured, all of African American or Hispanic descent. The first three attacks were caused by packages left on people’s doorsteps. The most recent attack last Monday involved an explosive left on the side of the road and was triggered by a tripwire. Wednesday, it came out that the suspect behind the recent bombings had killed himself through self-detonation during a police confrontations. The suspect, Mark Conditt, was a 23-year-old white male, recorded a 25-minute video confessing to building the explosive devices, however he had given no motive behind the bombings.

The two victims of the bombings: Anthony Stephan House, 39 and Draylen Mason, 17.