January 6 rioter arrested by the FBI
Jan. 6 rioter, Mathew Jason Beddingfield, was arrested by the FBI after rioting at the Capitol while on bail for attempted first-degree murder. NBC News wrote, “When he stormed the Capitol, Beddingfield was on bail on a first-degree attempted murder charge in connection with the December 2019 shooting of a 17-year-old in a Walmart parking lot, when Beddingfield was 19.” Back in March, Beddingfield was identified using facial recognition. He and his father were avid Trump supporters who had attended a rally in support of Trump overturning the 2020 presidential election. According to NBC News, he “faces felony charges of assaulting officers, impeding officers during a civil disorder and carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon on restricted Capitol grounds, as well as several misdemeanors, according to court records.”
Hyundai and Kia notify owners of fire risk in vehicles
Hyundai and Kia are notifying the owners of 485,000 vehicles in the U.S. to park their cars outside because they are at risk for catching on fire even if the engines are not running. According to NBC News, “The recalls from the two Korean automakers are another in a long string of fire and engine failure problems that have dogged the companies for the past six years. This time the problem is contamination in the antilock brake control module that can cause an electrical shortage. This increases the risk of fire while the vehicles are being driven or are parked.” In early February, the automakers had reports for 11 fires.
TikTok bans anti-LGBTQ+ hate
Social media giant, TikTok, has updated their community guidelines and banned specific anti-LGBTQ+ content and speech, including deadnaming which is using a transgender person’s pre-transition name, misgendering and using incorrect pronouns. According to NBC News, “Research suggests that deadnaming and misgendering, in particular, can negatively affect trans youths’ mental health. One 2018 study of a small group of trans people ages 15 to 21 published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that transgender youths who were allowed to use their chosen name at work, school and at home had a lower risk of depression and suicide.”
Andrew Yang faces backlash after controversial tweet
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang faced heavy backlash after tweeting, “I don’t think Joe Rogan is a racist — the man interacts with and works with black people literally all of the time,” earlier this month. He has since deleted the tweet and has been working to backtrack his statement that came only one day after Joe Rogan made an apology for his past use of racist slurs. NBC News wrote, “Yang deleted his original tweets and shared a new thread saying, ‘I think we should have the capacity to forgive people — whether a podcaster or a mayor — if they mess up. Maybe it’s because I mess up too.’”
