The Sunday Subject – September 3, 2023

A 21-year-old white man fatally shot three black people at a store in Jacksonville, Florida.

The gunman, who had authored racist writings, was motivated by racial hatred. He had been detained briefly in 2017 for a mental health issue, and the gun was legally purchased earlier this year. Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon said, “We must be clear, it was not just racially motivated, it was racist violence that has been perpetuated by rhetoric and policies designed to attack Black people, period.”

Donald Trump’s federal trial for conspiring to overturn the result of the presidential election has been scheduled for March 4th.

March 4th is the day before Super Tuesday, when over a dozen states will hold party primaries. Trump’s lawyers requested that the trial be pushed back to 2026, but the judge ruled that a speedy trial was in society’s interest.

At least 73 people died in a building fire in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The abandoned building, which was largely used by squatters, lacked running water, bathrooms or a legal electricity connection. It is believed that most of the victims were migrants.