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National

A 40-year-old suspect is in custody after a shooting in southwestern Philadelphia killed five people and injured two boys, ages 2 and 13, Monday evening, police said.

The latest: Police said at a briefing Tuesday afternoon the injured children were in stable condition in a local hospital following the shooting, which Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney noted involved the suspect "with an AR-style rifle and shooting randomly at people while wearing a bulletproof vest with multiple magazines."

Staff inspector Ernest Ransom said at the briefing the suspect was wearing a ski mask as he "began shooting aimlessly at occupied vehicles and individuals on the street as they walked."

One of those vehicles was driven by a mother who was taking her twins home. "One of the twins suffered a gunshot wound to the leg; their sibling sustained injuries to the eyes from shattered glass."

Of note: Police identified those killed as 15-year-old Daujan Brown; 20-year-old Lashyd Merritt; 29-year-old Dymir Stanton; 31-year-old Joseph Wamah Jr.; and 59-year-old Ralph Moralis. All of the victims were male. 

The big picture: The shooting happened about 8:20pm in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Philadelphia. Police initially said eight people were shot.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference late Monday police pursued the suspect on foot while he was shooting before he surrendered in an alley. He had a handgun in addition to the "AR-style rifle" and a police scanner, per Outlaw.

Another person whom Outlaw said picked up a firearm and returned fire was also taken into custody.

What we're watching: Police were still trying to determine a motive for the shooting.

What they're saying: "Horrified by the reports of a shooting in Southwest Philadelphia," Kenney tweeted.

"My heart is with the loved ones and families of everyone involved, and I send my prayers to the victims," he added. "This devastating violence must stop."

The big picture: At least 348 mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. so far this year as of Tuesday, per the Gun Violence Archive. 

This includes a shooting in Fort Worth, Texas, that police said Tuesday left three people dead and eight others wounded the previous night.

The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as a situation in which at least four people are shot and either injured or killed, not including the shooter.

Go deeper: Biden calls for stricter gun laws after spate of mass shootings

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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What to know about Philadelphia mass shooting that left 5 dead

Police attend the scene of a mass shooting in Philadelphia on Monday night. Photo: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images

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A federal judge restricted Biden administration officials and agencies from communicating with social media companies on content moderation in a preliminary injunction Tuesday.

Why it matters: The decision in an ongoing lawsuit from Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, who allege the Biden administration's efforts to encourage social media companies to crack down on COVID disinformation and other matters is "sprawling federal 'Censorship Enterprise,'" could have major First Amendment implications.

The attorneys general in court filings accuse the Biden administration of "the most egregious violations of the First Amendment in the history of the United States of America" through its communications with companies including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Driving the news: Although he has yet to produce a final ruling in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty in Louisiana said in the injunction Tuesday the attorneys general "have produced evidence of a massive effort by Defendants, from the White House to federal agencies, to suppress speech based on its content."

The Trump-appointed judge consequently blocked certain officials from calling, emailing, sending letters or text or meeting with social media firms "for the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech posted" online.

Of note: Officials affected by this ruling include Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, along with Department of Justice and FBI employees.

Zoom in: "During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian 'Ministry of Truth," Doughty wrote.

Doughty said the evidence produced thus far depicts an "almost dystopian" scenario.

"This targeted suppression of conservative ideas is a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech," he said. "American citizens have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country."

What they're saying: A White House official said in a statement to media the DOJ is reviewing the injunction and will evaluate its options.

"This Administration has promoted responsible actions to protect public health, safety, and security when confronted by challenges like a deadly pandemic and foreign attacks on our elections," the official added.

"Our consistent view remains that social media platforms have a critical responsibility to take account of the effects their platforms are having on the American people, but make independent choices about the information they present."

Judge limits Biden officials' contact with social media companies

The "government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian 'Ministry of Truth," judge wrote of anti-disinformation efforts.

President Biden in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Photo: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Social media

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From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

The U.S. health system faces critical questions about cost, access and equity. Technological advances and new discoveries about diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s are transforming patient care and reshaping public health.

Health

From tennis to push-ups to running, candidates challenging former President Trump and President Biden are emphasizing their athletic abilities. 

Why it matters: The messaging from the challengers is clear: They're young, they're energetic and in better physical — and perhaps mental — shape to do the job.

What we're watching: Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 37, has incorporated tennis into his campaign schedule, hosting events like "Tennis with Vivek" and posting videos of himself playing. 

A recent video of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 69, doing push-ups and incline presses shirtless and in skinny jeans went viral. 

The super PAC aligned with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 44 — former captain of Yale's baseball team — mailed out baseball cards featuring DeSantis at bat and highlighting his stint in the Little League World Series. He even sat for a whole interview with Fox on his own hometown baseball field.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), 57 — a high school football standout — has blasted out a photo of himself sweaty, mid-workout on a treadmill, tossed around a football with his campaign manager, and filmed selfie messages while at the gym. 

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez's entire campaign announcement video features Suarez, 45, running through the city of Miami. 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, 56 — who's mulling a presidential bid — has been on the basketball court with state lawmakers. 

Between the lines: Biden, 80, bikes and uses the Peloton — working out at least five days a week — and Trump, 77, golfs. 

"There's an inherent contrast — that none of them will come right out and say," Chris Cillizza, author of "Power Players: Sports, Politics, and the American Presidency," told Axios. 

"When you have a Democratic president who is 80, and about whom the public has major doubts that he is up to the job, having RFK Jr. doing pushups and showing off his physique is an obvious way to compare the two."

Flashback: Former President Obama was a huge basketball fan and frequently sank 3-point shots dressed in business attire at opportune moments, including days before the 2020 election in a Michigan gym while campaigning with Biden.

David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, wrote in his memoir, "Audacity to Win": "Obama looked like the future."

The bottom line: "Voters like the idea of their leaders as hale and hearty — representing the best of us," Plouffe wrote. "Sports is the easiest — and most easily digestible — way to do that."

Younger 2024 candidates highlight athletic prowess

"There’s an inherent contrast — that none of them will come right out and say."

2024 elections

Elections 2024

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Axios Latino

As the nation celebrates its 247th birthday, some Native Americans will use social media posts, T-shirts and other messaging to draw attention to three words written in the Declaration of Independence to describe their ancestors: "merciless Indian savages."  

Why it matters: Indigenous activists and scholars say the phrase — which Thomas Jefferson used in airing a grievance against King George III — shows how racism and Indigenous removal were baked into the nation's founding document. 

Zoom in: The phrase has become popular among Indigenous activists in recent years. It's often used with a mix of humor and irony to remind others of the conflicting feelings that Indigenous Americans can feel around Independence Day.

"It's making people think about how we're seen in this country today," Rhonda LeValdo, host of the "Native Spirit" radio show on KKFI-FM in Kansas City, Mo., tells Axios. "We're still not seen as human beings."

The phrase is memorialized on a shirt designed by Kiowa-Choctaw artist Steven Paul Judd and sold on the Native American-owned clothing website NTVS. It's often seen at powwows and around July Fourth.

The dark shirt has "Merciless Indian Savages" in white type, with "Declaration of Independence" in smaller type below — a play on shirts with inspirational quotes.

Native Americans also have used the phrase in social media memes, comedy shows and art to draw attention to Indigenous history in the U.S.

Catch up quick: Jefferson's reference to Indigenous people as "merciless Indian Savages" was in his 27th grievance against King George, in which he accused the king of encouraging "domestic insurrection" by Native Americans against white colonists.

Jefferson also faulted the king for refusing to allow colonists to seize more land from Indigenous people farther west. 

What they're saying: LeValdo notes that the Declaration of Independence is widely known for the phrase "all men are created equal." But most Americans dismiss — or are unaware of — what it says about Indigenous people. The shirt is supposed to make you pause and think, she said.

"There's this moment of shocking people to the realization of how racist the Declaration of Independence was toward Indigenous peoples," Joseph M. Pierce, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, tells Axios. He takes a selfie with the shirt every July Fourth. 

"Most Native people see it as a moment of solidarity," said Pierce, an associate professor of Hispanic languages and literature at Stony Brook University in New York.

He said many people laugh at the shirt, while others tell him Native Americans should be grateful to the U.S.: "Taking that phrase, that's literally in the Declaration of Independence, forces us to reckon with it." 

Zoom out: In recent years, Native American scholars and lawyers have stepped up their challenges to the traditional, often romantic narrative of how the U.S. spread westward — a story that often ignores Indigenous voices.

Yale historian Ned Blackhawk's newly released book, "The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History," is part of that trend in recent scholarship.

"I think that there's a realization that this country is built on something that was bad for Native Americans," Tulsa attorney Brett Chapman, a member of the Pawnee tribe, tells Axios. 

Yes, but: Many Indigenous tribes use July Fourth to hold powwows to pay homage to Native American veterans. 

Lake Traverse Indian Reservation holds an annual powwow on July Fourth to honor veterans.

Other tribes sell fireworks leading up to the holiday on tribal lands, free from local and state ordinances governing what they can offer.

Chapman, a descendant of Standing Bear, a Ponca chief and civil rights leader, said tribes are defining the holiday on their own terms:

"It's honoring the sacrifices of our warriors."

Native American-owned clothing website NTV

A "merciless" reminder of Indigenous history on July 4

Phrase in Declaration of Independence reflects how racism was baked into nation's founding document.

Stony Brook University Hispanic and Literature associate professor Joseph M. Pierce, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, poses with "Merciless Indian Savages" t-shirt.

Stony Brook University associate professor Joseph M. Pierce, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, poses with "Merciless Indian Savages" T-shirt. Photo courtesy of Pierce

Native Americans

Data: Martin-Quinn scores; Note: 2005 term refers to the median justice score after Justice Samuel Alito joined the court; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios

The Supreme Court continued to lean conservative during its most recent term, according to preliminary data. 

Supreme Court ideology continues to lean conservative, new data shows

After overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, the court continued to push American law to the right.

Axios

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A "merciless" reminder of Indigenous history on July 4

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