Wednesday Reads: Shootout on Memorial Drive and Other News

Good Afternoon!!

I’m going to begin with a local story today. On Monday, we had a terrible shooting incident not far from where I live, and I can’t understand why it hasn’t gotten more national coverage. It makes me wonder how many really awful shooting incidents just get ignored by the mainstream media. There were a couple of stories yesterday–one in The New York Times–but no TV coverage as it was happening.

Here’s what happened. A man with an assault rifle made his way to a stretch of Memorial Drive in Cambridge–a very busy road, one of two routes into Boston from outlying towns. The road passes the Harvard and MIT campuses and splits off to the bridge the leads to the BU campus.

A still frame from witness video showing a gunman on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The guy began firing his weapon, getting off as many as 30 rounds at once. He fired at cars and drivers randomly, eventually walking down the middle of the road, waving the rifle around. Hundreds of cars were abandoned, as people ran for their lives. One bullet went through the windshield of a post office truck and just missed the driver’s head. So far there haven’t been any fatalities, but two drivers were shot and are in critical condition. I heard this morning that one of them is expected to live.

The entire stretch of Memorial Drive, from the edge of the Harvard Campus to MIT as well as the bridge to BU were shut down and treated as a crime scene. I can’t even begin to imagine the struggle people had getting home on Monday night.

This all took place just a short distance from where my brother lived for years and right in front of the gas station where I used to take my nephews for Italian ice in the summer. (Interestingly, this is also the gas station where the Boston bombers stopped for gas as they tried to escape. During that stop, the man whose car they had highjacked escaped and ran to another gas station across the way to call police.)

It turns out the shooter was on probation and had had met with his probation officer on Facetime on Monday morning. He had shown the rifle and given indications that he was suicidal, so the probation office had notified law enforcement, and they were tracing the shooter, I guess by his phone. They knew he was in Cambridge, so they were able to respond quickly when the 911 calls starting coming in. The shooter was taken down by a state police officer and a civilian–a former marine with a legal gun. So far the ex-marine hasn’t been named. He would probably be wise to remain anonymous.

It turns out this man should not have been out of prison. He had a history of getting in shootouts, including with police and been given very lenient sentences. I hope they put him away for good this time.

We have very strict gun laws here in Massachusetts, but dealers bring the guns down from Vermont, which has zero gun laws.

Here’s a summary article about the incident from The Boston Globe: Assault-style rifle, former Marine who stepped in, panicked drivers: What to know about the Memorial Drive shooting.

An active shooter on Memorial Drive in Cambridge Monday afternoon prompted panicked motorists to abandon their vehicles and sent people running for their lives along the Charles River.

Two drivers were shot and critically injured, officials said. The suspected shooter, identified as Tyler E. Brown, 46, of Boston, was shot while police apprehended him. He was in police custody at a Boston hospital late Monday night….

Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan said Cambridge police received a 911 call from Boston police at 1:06 p.m. reporting a person who was believed to be in Cambridge, observed acting erratically, and believed to be in the possession of a rifle.

By the time police responded, Brown had started shooting, she said.

“The suspect created a extraordinarily dangerous situation during a busy part of the afternoon where innocent people were driving their vehicles, walking, biking and rowing on the river,” Ryan said. Some took cover under their vehicles, she said.

Authorities say Brown randomly fired 50 to 60 rounds from an “assault style rifle” while walking down the middle of Memorial Drive near the River Street Bridge. At least a dozen vehicles were struck, including a State Police cruiser. The two drivers struck by bullets were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries….

The shooting came to an end after Brown was confronted by a State Police trooper and an armed civilian, described as a former Marine with a license to carry a firearm. Brown was shot several times in the extremities.

Brown is currently serving three years of probation after his release from state prison last year where he served a sentence for a May 2020 shooting in the South End that involved four Boston police officers. The officers were not injured but they were evaluated at a hospital. Brown had been released from prison five months before that shooting. He was sentenced to five to six years with credit for 545 days time served. Court records do not specify the exact date of Brown’s most recent release….

In connection with Monday’s shooting, Brown is expected to face two counts of armed assault with intent to murder and firearms offenses. His arraignment has not yet been scheduled.

Video of the takedown:

WCVB ABC: ‘I was running for my life’: Witnesses describe Memorial Drive shooting.

Multiple witnesses describe seeing a man armed with a rifle shooting into busy traffic along Memorial Drive in Cambridge on Monday afternoon.

They described more than a dozen shots being fired rapidly, and officials confirmed at least one person was treated for a gunshot wound. Memorial Drive was closed at the River Street Bridge for the investigation.

“People just started running. People got out of their cars and just started running the opposite way,” said Todd Czubek, a witness.

Czubek said the gunman continued to fire as he got out of his car and joined the crowd running from the scene.

“Shooting cars, shooting sometimes in the air, sometimes just spraying. All over the place. It was craziness,” Czubek said.

Joseph Minino Rodriguez, who saw the incident unfolding from his apartment on the 18th floor, described seeing the gunman firing into traffic. He shared a cellphone video from the incident and said that he was on the phone with emergency dispatchers as the incident unfolded.

Rodriguez said that, while he was watching, the shooter “just straight up gets into a gunfight with the cops.”

He said the gunman appeared to fall during that gunfight and then threw his gun.

“Once he throws the gun, my boy is just out here, just lying down, and now he has his hands up. Now he’s done,” Rodriguez said.

One more from WBUR public radio: Alleged Cambridge gunman was released from psychiatric hospital 3 days before shooting.

The alleged gunman charged in Monday’s chaotic shooting on Memorial Drive in Cambridge that left two people seriously wounded had been released from a psychiatric hospital three days earlier, according to a state police report on the incident.

Less than an hour before the shootings, Tyler E. Brown allegedly told his parole officer that “these people are gonna f—ing pay.” He did not say whom he was targeting, but would go on to fire at least 60 rounds erratically into cars and at passersby, according to the police report filed in Cambridge District Court.

Tyler E. Brown, accused of firing on drivers on Memorial Drive in Cambridge on Monday. credit Boston Regional Intelligence Center

The Middlesex County District Attorney’s office has charged Brown, 46, with armed assault with intent to murder, carrying a firearm without a license and possessing a large-capacity firearm. He was in a local hospital Tuesday and no arraignment date has been set.

Brown has a history of violence. He previously served time in prison for shooting at Boston police officers in 2020 while already on probation for a 2014 conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

He was released from prison in May last year, to serve the remainder of his sentence under parole supervision, according to the Department of Correction.

On Monday, less than two hours before the shooting, a parole officer flagged to police that Brown was at risk of violence again. The parole officer called the Boston Police Department, reporting that Brown, “a known crack cocaine user, had relapsed and was ready to end his life,” according to the report.

It sounds like the guy had a lot of problems. But why do these angry guys want to take other people with them? It’s either their families or total strangers. They can’t just kill themselves and leave the rest of us alone. Sorry if that sounds cold. And sorry if I bored you with a local story, but I just had to get it off my chest.

Now back to politics news.

I’m sure you’ve heard that Trump publicly admitted he doesn’t give a shit about Americans’ financial struggles.

The Guardian: ‘I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,’ says Trump amid Iran talks.

Donald Trump has said the growing financial pressure inflicted on Americans by the war on Iran is “not even a little bit” motivating him to make a peace deal with Tehran.

With US inflation at a three-year high, and fuel costs still climbing after a sharp rise in oil prices, the US president said on Tuesday that he is not focused on the economic hardship sparked by the conflict.

“The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran [is] they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters at the White House before boarding a plane to China. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”

The remarks come ahead of a US midterm election campaign season which looks to be defined by mounting concerns around affordability.

Trump was also speaking hours after official figures revealed that US prices had risen 3.8% in April – their fastest pace since 2023 – driven largely by energy costs that have surged since the US and Israel first attacked Iran in late February.

Gasoline now averages over $4.50 a gallon, according to AAA, which makes it the highest price in four years. Food prices are also up nearly 4%, electricity and utility bills have climbed and airlines have raised fares by more than 20%.

Trump’s top officials have spent months struggling to explain when, or whether, such pressures will fade. Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, said in March that fuel could return to prewar levels by summer, but on Sunday he said he “can’t make predictions”. In April, he told CNN that prices falling below $3 a gallon “might not happen till next year”.

Trump himself, asked recently for a forecast, offered that prices could go lower, “or the same, or maybe a little bit higher”, by November.

We’ll probably see that quote in a lot of Democratic candidates’ ads during the midterm campaigns.

The polls aren’t looking good for Trump either.

Mediaite: ‘Jesus!’ Hot Mic Catches CNN’s Harry Enten Gobsmacked by ‘Brutal’ Inflation Report.

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten was caught on a hot mic reacting to the Trump administration’s disastrous new inflation numbers on Tuesday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday morning published its latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report. For the month of April, The PPI rose 6% compared to April 2025. Compared to last month, the PPI rose 1.4%. It was the largest month-to-month increase since 2022. As noted by CNBC’s Rick Santelli, that month-to-month figure nearly tripled the expected increase.

Enten was just as stunned. Just moments before he began a segment breaking down President Donald Trump’s poor approval ratings, he reacted to the new inflation report in disbelief:

CNN ANCHOR JOHN BERMAN: Breaking just moments ago, a new brutal report on wholesale inflation. Way, way worse than expected. You can see that’s the month-to-month increase at 1.4%. That was much more than was expected. On an annualized basis. It’s at 6%.

ENTEN: Jesus.

BERMAN: This, after consumer inflation just surged to the highest level in three years. With us now is CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten. So we’ve been talking about inflation, we’ve been talking about the president’s approval on it, which is not good–

ENTEN: No.

BERMAN: Our new poll shows that people are very unhappy with the economy, with inflation, with his handling of inflation. On a historical perspective, though, how much don’t they like how he’s handling inflation?

Enten went on to say Trump’s approval rating on inflation were the “ugliest numbers I have ever seen.” He then revealed in just the last month, Trump had the five worst inflation polls of any president in history.

Simon Rosenberg at Hopium Chronicles examines the current state of the economy: Trump Admits What Has Become Obvious – He Simply Doesn’t Care About The American People Only Himself, His Ridiculous Ballroom, His Fellow Oligarchs.

Yesterday, the main gauge of inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), came in way above expectations at 0.6 for April. This morning another inflation gauge, the Producer Price Index, came in way, way above expectations at 1.4 percent for April. The consensus forecast was an increase of 0.5 percent. So 1.4 is almost three times what was expected. 1.4 percent is an annualized rate of over 16%!!!!!!!! [….]

When I looked at the PPI report on the BEA website this morning I audibly gasped as it was so much higher than expected.

Let’s review what the other two main gauges of inflation tell us:

Again, on prices and costs, Trump’s agenda – tariffs, mass deportation, Big Ugly Bill – had caused inflation to rise prior to the war. You see it there in the data, clear as day. Now due to the war inflation has surged, significantly, rising faster than expected in this week’s two measures, and is starting to get baked into the broader economy. PPI measures the cost of goods to producers, costs which are eventually passed on to consumers, suggesting that we are now in a much more challenging and sustained period of higher costs even if the Strait of Hormuz were to open tomorrow. For remember higher energy prices are a force multiplier – they make anything that uses energy and transportation cost more – manufactured goods, food, business travel, vacations, etc. And these highly elevated producer costs we are seeing today are going to show up in goods we buy in the coming months……..

The inflationary dynamic is not easing. Brent crude starts the day at one its highest points of the war:

30 Year Treasuries are rising, nearing their highest level in 19 years. This is significant for this is a bench mark for borrowing costs across the economy – car loans, mortgage rates, credit cards, and our own debt. So when Treasuries rise everything gets more expensive for everyone, and a sign of inflation getting baked into the broader economy.

Head over to Rosenberg’s Substack to read more and see the charts and graphs.

You probably heard about Trump’s insane Truth Social posting night before last. Today the Wall Street Journal wrote about it; too bad about the paywall. But Raw Story summarized the article: White House insiders furious at mysterious aide enabling Trump’s midnight posting sprees.

President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account has become a round-the-clock amplification machine since his return to the White House, and an aide who helps him generate the posts has reportedly frustrated other insiders.

A Wall Street Journal analysis found the 79-year-old president has posted more than 8,800 times since January 2025 — including dozens of late-night bursts that spread conspiracy theories, personal attacks and fringe content to his 12.6 million followers.

On a recent Monday, after a full day of Oval Office meetings and a Rose Garden dinner with law enforcement officers, Trump’s account posted 55 messages between 10:14 p.m. and 1:12 a.m., the Journal found, and those posts falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen, aired calls for the arrest of former President Barack Obama and amplified frustrations that Democrats had not been indicted by the Justice Department.

Since returning to office, according to the analysis, Trump’s account has produced 44 similar late-night bursts of a dozen or more posts between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. The single most active day came on Dec. 1, when his account posted nearly 160 times in under four hours.

 

Natalie Harp

Natalie Harp, Trump’s executive assistant, plays a central role in the posting operation, the Journal reported. She presents Trump with printed stacks of draft posts — often content recycled from other social media accounts — for his approval, then logs on and publishes them in batches, sometimes outside normal working hours.

The arrangement has drawn internal friction, according to the report. Harp – who other aides have dubbed the “human printer” for carrying around sheafs of material – typically does not share draft posts with the chief of staff’s office, communications aides or national security officials, telling colleagues she answers only to Trump.

The account drew bipartisan criticism earlier this year after Harp posted, at Trump’s direction, a video containing racist imagery depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes and another AI-generated image depicting Trump as a Christ-like figure, both of which the president later deleted.

That’s interesting. Harp is the woman who follows Trump everywhere printing out favorable articles on a portable printer. She was at all of Trump’s court appearances back in the good old days when we hoped he could be stopped.

Historian Heather Cox Richardson also wrote about the night of insane posting: May 12, 2026

The biggest story in the country, today and always, is that the president of the United States is mentally unwell.

Over the course of three hours last night, he posted on social media fifty-five times. Those posts accused a number of those Trump considers his personal enemies, including former president Barack Obama, of treason; claimed that investigations of the ties between his 2016 campaign and Russian operatives were an attempt to damage Trump; insisted the 2020 presidential election was stolen; reposted a fake quotation from Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) accusing Obama of making a personal fortune of $120 million from the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare; labeled Obama and others “traitors” and called for their arrest; and demanded to know why acting attorney general Todd Blanche hadn’t indicted any of those people yet.

This morning, he started in again with a long screed attacking the New York Times for its coverage of his alterations to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and insisting that Democratic presidents Obama and Joe Biden had “botched” renovations that he was now fixing for “a ‘tiny’ fraction of the cost!” He posted an AI image of Obama, Biden, and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) apparently swimming in a filthy version of the reflecting pool with the caption: “Dumacrats Love Sewage.” Then he posted an image of himself on the $100 bill. And then he was back to calling House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) “Low IQ.”

After posting a number of AI images showing the U.S. military destroying the Iranian military, Trump posted: “When the Fake News says that the Iranian enemy is doing well, Militarily, against us, it’s virtual TREASON in that it is such a false, and even preposterous, statement. They are aiding and abetting the enemy!”

Then he posted an image of a map with Venezuela overlaid with the U.S. flag. The caption read: “51st State.”

Trump seems to be comforting himself by lashing out at his perceived enemies and insisting he is competent and popular. Before he left for China today, he claimed: “We have Iran very much under control. We’re either going to make a deal or they’re going to be decimated. One way or the other, we win.”

She’s probably right. Trump uses social media self-soothe, like a baby uses a blanket or  a pacifier.

Trump has landed in China for his meeting with Xi Jinping. The New York Times: What China’s Choice of Airport Greeter Says About Trump.