Today’s Headlines and Commentary

On Saturday, a gunman opened fire in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas killing 22 people and wounding many others, the Dallas Morning News reports. Just before the attack, a manifesto believed to be linked to the shooter, espousing white-nationalist rhetoric and railing against a “Hispanic invasion” appeared online, per the Washington Post. Texas prosecutors are treating the incident as a case of domestic terrorism and will seek the death penalty, the Associated Press writes. In response, the president condemned white nationalism and “racist hate” and called for measures to address mental illness, violence in the media and in video games, according to the Times.

On Monday, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind signed a decree which would revoke the special status of Kashmir under Article 370 of the Indian constitution, NPR reports. The government also moved to split the state into two federal territories, which allows the federal government increased control over the areas in question, according to Reuters. Anticipating unrest, the Indian government deployed about 28,000 troops to the region on Thursday. The government also imposed a communications and media blackout and placed some local leaders under house arrest. There are currently no signs of protest.

On Wednesday, the Iranian military seized a foreign oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, which the military accused of smuggling fuel to unnamed Arab states, according to a statement released on Sunday to Fars news agency, the Times reports. The interdiction of the tanker and detention of its seven-person crew is the third such incident in less than a month.

Network provider Cloudflare decided to terminate service for 8Chan, the social media platform allegedly used by the suspected shooter in El Paso to publish his manifesto. A blog post by the company’s CEO described the site as a “cesspool of hate” that contributed to “multiple tragic deaths.”

ICYMI: Last Weekend on Lawfare

Kiriloi M. Ingram argued that governments and civil society groups need to do a better job of recognizing the role of women in supporting extremism while also empowering them to help counter violent extremism.

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Jack Goldsmith spoke with Mary Ann Glendon about the recently announced Commission on Unalienable Rights, of which Glendon is the chair.