Harris to visit California in aftermath of shootings in Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay

Vice President Harris will travel to California on Wednesday in the wake of a pair of mass shootings there that left nearly 20 people dead combined.

Harris will visit the Los Angeles area, where 11 people were killed and nine were wounded in a shooting on Saturday at a ballroom in Monterey Park during Lunar New Year festivities.

President Biden confirmed Harris would visit her home state to honor victims and meet with community members in the Monterey Park area. Biden said he’s been in touch with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and other lawmakers representing California to see how the federal government can help.

As the community was reeling from the Monterey Park shooting, a gunman killed seven people in Half Moon Bay, Calif., in San Mateo County. 

Police arrested a man in connection with the Half Moon Bay shootings, while the suspected gunman in the Monterey Park shooting died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The back-to-back mass shootings have renewed discussions about acts of violence against the Asian American community, given the Monterey Park incident happened in a predominantly Asian American neighborhood during Lunar New Year celebrations.

Harris, who previously served as California attorney general and as the state’s junior senator, is the first woman of Asian American descent to serve as vice president.

The shootings have also rekindled a push from the White House for Congress to take stronger action against gun violence, with Biden repeating his call for a ban on assault weapons.

“Even as we await further details on these shootings, we know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action,” Biden said in a statement earlier Tuesday. “I once again urge both chambers of Congress to act quickly and deliver this Assault Weapons Ban to my desk, and take action to keep American communities, schools, workplaces, and homes safe.”