FBI investigates alleged Trump shooter's motive as GOP leaders gather at the RNC

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Today's top stories

It has been fewer than 48 hours since a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks as the man who allegedly shot at President Trump. One person was killed and two more were injured during the incident. President Biden said yesterday in an Oval Office address that the nation needs to “lower the temperature in our politics” as he condemned the attempted assassination. He has ordered an independent review of the national security measures in place at Trump’s rally and promised to release the results of that investigation publicly. Here's what we know about the alleged shooter so far — and the man who was killed shielding his family.

• 🎧 NPR’s Ryan Lucas tells Up First that the FBI said it was investigating the incident as “an act of domestic terrorism” but had not yet identified an ideology associated with the alleged shooter. Officials have retrieved two key pieces of evidence: the alleged shooter's gun and cell phone. Lucas says unlocking the cell phone is an "urgent focus" for investigators as they try to build a timeline of what Crooks was doing and where he was leading up to the shooting.
• 📷 See photos of how the shooting unfolded and its aftermath.

The Republican National Convention kicks off today in Milwaukee. Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who was initially not invited, will now be speaking there as well.

• 🎧 The attempted assassination is certainly on many people's minds, Franco Ordoñez says. More security is expected at the four-day event, but no major changes are anticipated for the program. A former RNC spokesperson and event veteran tells him he will be watching how the shooting is discussed. "Will this be a moment of reflection and responsibility or more of a rallying cry with increased heated rhetoric?”
• ➡️ Follow the latest updates at the RNC throughout this week with NPR's live blog.

Misinformation and disinformation are already swirling in the aftermath of the shooting.  Some have claimed, without evidence, that the Biden administration was behind the assassination attempt. Others, including liberals, claim without evidence that the Trump administration staged it. But the confusion is not new. It comes during a presidential campaign already filled with conspiracy theories.

• 🎧 NPR’s Lisa Hagen says that even when we start to get a clearer picture from sources like the FBI or journalists, we're still going to see suspicions that crucial things are being hidden from the public. “That's a core tenet of conspiracist thinking,” she explains. Extremism experts tell NPR's Odette Yousef that there are concerns about bad-faith actors capitalizing on this moment of extreme tension. "Anger is just snowballing against a variety of targets as we wait for actual facts to come out," Yousef says.

New from NPR

by Rose Eveleth, Embedded: Tested host

Women's sports are (finally!) booming — and this year marks the first time in the entire history of the Olympics where men and women are represented equally.

I’ve spent the past ten years researching a story that emphasizes the obstacles women have faced in sports from the minute they were allowed into the Olympics. Even some of the biggest fans don’t know that for over 100 years, women athletes have been subjected to various forms of sex testing to confirm that they were female. For example, from the 1960s through the 1990s, every woman at the Olympics had to have a certificate proving her sex. We have no idea how many women have been pushed out of sports because their biology doesn’t line up with whatever test was in vogue at the time — everything from physical exams to chromosome tests to hormone screens.

I’ve been traveling around the world for the past five years to meet with athletes who have been impacted by sex testing policies. Christine Mboma, who won a silver medal in the 200 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, for example, is now medicating herself to lower her body’s naturally occurring testosterone. The rules she’s following, released last spring, sidelined her for the 2023 season, and she’s struggling to get back to where she was. Other athletes have chosen to fight the rules and head to an international court of arbitration that has not been friendly to them in the past. Still, others have given up completely and walked away from their Olympic dreams.

Mboma and other athletes share their stories in "Tested," the newest limited series from NPR's documentary podcast Embedded and CBC, Canada's national broadcaster. The first episode is out today. You can listen to it here. Find new episodes of this six-part series every Monday and Thursday for the next three weeks.

Life advice

July is Disability Pride Month, which promotes awareness for the about 61 million adults in the U.S. who live with at least one disability. As common as disability is, many people don’t know how to talk about it or interact with disabled people. In her book Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally, disability rights activist and writer Emily Ladau shared thoughts about how nondisabled and disabled people can work together towards a more inclusive and accessible world.

• ➡️ Learn and use the correct language. It is always best to ask people what terms work for them based on their experiences and identity.
• ➡️ One size doesn’t fit all. A disability can manifest and impact individuals differently. Remember, no singular experience reflects that of the entire community.
• ➡️ Being an ally requires constant work. "It's a constant learning process, and that can be challenging, but when we know better, we can do better," Ladau says.

3 things to know before you go

1. Sotheby’s will hold a live auction of the Jurassic-era stegosaurus dinosaur fossil known as “Apex" on Wednesday. It's expected to be one of the most expensive fossils ever sold.
2. To help combat period poverty in Tampa, Fla., Bree Wallace started installing pantries called Tampa Period Pantry, which are stocked with free menstrual supplies in public locations for anyone in need. They resemble a Little Free Library.
3. Grocery store prices have mostly leveled off. However, leveling off isn’t the same as prices dropping. This means many in the U.S. may still feel the cumulative effect of those earlier increases.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.