Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The latest on the devastating mass shooting in British Columbia, Canada: “Police say eight people were killed and 27 more were injured after a mass shooting in the community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on Tuesday. The sole suspect was also found dead inside the school from ‘a self-inflicted injury,’ according to police. On Wednesday, police clarified that the death toll, including the suspect, stood at nine — and not 10, as previously reported.”
* An overdue withdrawal: “The Trump administration’s controversial deployment of National Guard troops to several cities led by Democrats ended in January, marking a muted retreat by President Donald Trump, who claimed the federal troops were needed to fight immigration-related crime. The withdrawal of the National Guard from Chicago; Los Angeles; and Portland, Oregon, began on Jan. 6 and ended Jan. 21, according to U.S. Northern Command.”
* A bizarre story out of Texas: “Federal Aviation Administration officials were forced to close El Paso’s airspace late Tuesday after the Defense Department decided to try out new anti-drone technology without giving aviation officials ample time to assess the risks to commercial airlines, according to four people briefed on the situation.
* An apparent reversal: “The National Governors Association said governors from both parties would be able to meet with President Donald Trump later this month after the White House initially extended invitations to a business meeting only to Republicans. ‘We’re pleased the president will welcome governors from all 55 states and territories to the White House,’ Brandon Tatum, the group’s chief executive, said Wednesday. It’s still unclear whether every governor will participate in the full White House event.”
* The right call: “The state government of Michigan was within its rights to refuse a request from the Trump administration to hand over personal information from state voter rolls, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. In a 23-page opinion, Judge Hala Y. Jarbou of the Federal District Court for the Western District of Michigan rejected the administration’s arguments that it was entitled to know Michigan voters’ personal information to ‘prevent the inclusion of ineligible voters’ and to combat what it called ‘voter fraud.’
* An unexpected deployment: “The U.S. is sending 200 troops to Nigeria to train the country’s military to fight Islamist militants, weeks after President Trump accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks, an American military official said Tuesday.” * I wish this were more surprising: “Shortly after a Border Patrol agent shot a 30-year-old Chicago woman five times, Gregory Bovino, who was leading the federal government’s immigration raids across the city, reached out to offer his congratulations.” * The White House sure does appear to have a social media problem: “Vice President JD Vance’s office deleted a social media post on Tuesday that broke with administration policy in acknowledging the Armenian genocide after Mr. Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, visited a memorial to the estimated 1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks over a century ago.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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