Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords shot

[Orangutan]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011...-public-event/

Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was fatally shot in the head at close range by a gunman Saturday morning outside a grocery store in Tucson while holding a public event, Fox News has confirmed.

Eight others were shot, including three of the Arizona Democrat's aides, at Giffords' "Your Corner" event held at a Safeway grocery story. A suspect is in custody.

The three staffers who were shot worked out of Giffords' Arizona office.

Giffords has held multiple "Your Corner" events over the past four years, the aide told Fox News, adding that she had held three previous events that this venue before.

In November, Giffords was re-elected to her third term as representative of Arizona's 8th Congressional District. She is married to astronaut Mark Kelly.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

I have the sinking feeling this happened because she was a Democrat.

[JustinC939]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011...-public-event/



I have the sinking feeling this happened because she was a Democrat.

Back from the dead I see

I also think that the Tea Party will be blamed for this (regardless of whether or not they're responsible) and this event will be used as an excuse to take more rights and away from us and invade our privacy.

[otoc]

from lgf...

Arizona Rep. Giffords Shot, Several Others Killed

Charles Johnson
US News • Sat Jan 8, 2011 at 12:08 pm PST • Views: 698
Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has been shot at a public event. Several other were also shot, and at least five people are dead. At last report, Congresswoman Giffords was still alive but in surgery…
UPDATE at 1/8/11 12:13:01 pm:
Giffords was one of the Democrats listed on this map/enemies list posted by Sarah Palin’s PAC, with gunsights indicating the location of their enemies:

According to reports on Twitter, Palin has deleted this map and others like it from her Facebook page.

[JustinC939]

^^ Imagine That!

[AeroSim]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011...-public-event/



I have the sinking feeling this happened because she was a Democrat.

I'd guess again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabrielle_Giffords

Giffords advocated a comprehensive immigration reform package, including modern technology to secure the border, more border patrol agents, tough employer sanctions for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and a guest-worker program.
...

Giffords is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition ....

I don't know why someone would want to cap her because she is a democrat- especially a Blue Dog who basically tend to be swing votes.

[/\/\adGamer]

The anti 2nd gun grabbers will be all over this like stink on shat.

[Big B-man]

My first thought: WTF is wrong with people? Secondly, I've never heard of her before this, but still, this is terrible. I hope the shooter has a nice long stay in the grey bar hotel...at the very least.

[JustinC939]

The anti 2nd gun grabbers will be all over this like stink on shat.

Like I said, an exude to take our rights away.

[madhatter256]

I'm surprised they are saying that she is going to make a full recovery despite being shot in the head..... conspiracy!!!!

[Dutchcedar]

Either he's a Tea Party extremist or... please, no labels.

h/t t-bird

[bk94si]

Judge that was killed - recommended by McCain, appointed by Bush
http://mccain.senate.gov/public/inde...8-60ba5e317a2e

[/\/\adGamer]

I have the sinking feeling this happened because she was a Democrat.

Maybe it was because she used to be a republican.........Any way it was a cowardly act that wont go unpunished and in the end the politics of it wont really matter.

[Meridian]

I'm surprised they are saying that she is going to make a full recovery despite being shot in the head..... conspiracy!!!!

You can survive an astonishing amount of brain injury. Time alone will tell what the permanent effects are though.


M

[otoc]

Good morning gents, more coming out...
Shooting suspect left unsettling artifacts online

The suspected gunman in the shooting today of a U.S. Congresswoman posted disturbing artifacts on YouTube and MySpace, according to various reports, including a photo of a gun on top of a U.S. history book, and videos featuring strange, sometimes political ramblings.

"The rambling, disconnected writings and videos he has left on the Web are consistent with the delusions produced by a psychotic illness like schizophrenia, which develops most often in the teens or 20s," The Times reported.


Videos ostensibly posted by Loughner on YouTube contain bizarre screeds about the government.


"Reading the second United States Constitution, I can't trust the current government because of the ratifications," runs one remark. "The government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar."

And another says:

The majority of citizens in the United States of America have never read the United States of America's Constitution. You don't have to accept the federalist laws.
Nonetheless, read the United States of America's Constitution to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws.
You're literate, listener?

All those remarks appear in a video titled "Introduction: Jared Loughner," which opens with the words, "My Final Thoughts: Jared Lee Loughner!" The YouTube page says the video was posted three weeks ago.
MySpace pages reportedly posted by Loughner featured a photo of a pistol on top of what looks like a book bearing the title "United States History." Web site Good reported that the pages had been taken down as of this afternoon, but Good showed a screen shot of a "My Photos" page with the described image.

Web site Good posted this screen capture of a MySpace page.


A former classmate of Loughner's, Catie Parker, posted a series of statements to Twitter today, the Times reported, in which she said Loughner was "oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy" and had "met Giffords once before in '07, asked her a question & he told me she was 'stupid & unintelligent.'"

House Member Shot; 6 Killed

Ariz. sheriff denounced vitriolic politics after a gunman killed a federal judge and left 13 wounded.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said Giffords was the target of a gunman whom he described as mentally unstable and possibly acting with an accomplice. He said Giffords was among 13 people wounded in the shooting, which killed six people, including Arizona's chief federal judge, a 9-year-old girl, and an aide for the Democratic lawmaker. He said the rampage ended after two people tackled the gunman.

Doctors said they were optimistic that Giffords would survive, as she was responding to commands from doctors despite having a bullet go through her head. "With guarded optimism, I hope she will survive, but this is a very devastating wound," said Richard Carmona, the former surgeon general, who lives in Tucson.

Dupnik pointed to the vitriolic political rhetoric that has consumed the country as he denounced the shooting, which claimed several of his friends as victims, including U.S. District Judge John M. Roll. Roll attended Mass on Saturday morning, as he does every day, before stopping by to say hello to his good friend Giffords.

"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," Dupnik said. "And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

Giffords has drawn the ire of the right in the last year, including from politicians such as Sarah Palin, over her support of the health-care bill.
Law enforcement officials said members of Congress reported 42 cases of threats or violence in the first three months of 2010, nearly three times the 15 cases reported during the same period a year earlier. Nearly all dealt with the health bill, and Giffords was among the targets.

Palin listed Giffords' seat as one of the top targets in the midterm elections because of the lawmaker's support for the health-care law.

Giffords said in an interview with MSNBC that "we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action."

Palin issued a statement after the shooting expressing her "sincere condolences" to the families of Giffords and the other victims.

Yeah Sarah, sincere condolences, or embarrassed condolences?


edit: decent update
Latest developments in Arizona Shooting


Too long to post, but here are some interesting points.

-- Early Sunday morning, the sheriff's office released a surveillance camera photo of a male between 40 and 50 years old who is "possibly associated with the suspect." The dark-haired man was last seen wearing blue jeans and a dark blue jacket, and was seen at the location where the shooting occurred.
-- Dr. Steven Rayle was about 10 feet away from Giffords when the gunman shot the congresswoman. "He continued to fire, sort of rapidly, really at point-blank range," he said, adding that the man was shooting indiscriminately.
-- The suspect was tackled to the ground by two men when he was trying to reload, another witness said.
-- The gun, which another bystander had wrestled from the gunman, was empty and cocked open. Federal and state law enforcement sources described it as a 9mm Glock outfitted with a 30-round magazine.
-- The shooter had another magazine at the ready, according to Joe Zamudio who said he was one of the bystanders who pinned the gunman to the ground until police showed up.
-- The suspect in the shooting is Jared Lee Loughner, a 22-year-old former community college student, according to an Arizona law enforcement source and a U.S. law enforcement source.
-- He railed against government "mind control" and illiteracy in online missives and had "kind of a troubled past," said Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik.
-- He took classes at the college from 2005 until October 2010, but withdrew after five contacts with police "for classroom and library disruptions" at two campuses between February and September, the school said.
-- Loughner was suspended after authorities found a YouTube video in which he called the school "illegal according to the U.S. Constitution, and makes other claims," a college statement said. He quit during an October 4 meeting with his parents and school administrators, and a follow-up letter warned that to return, he had to present a doctor's note stating that "his presence at the College does not present a danger to himself or others."
-- Online, Loughner complained about the "second Constitution," a term legal scholars sometimes use to describe the post-Civil War amendments that ended slavery, extended the right to vote and required equal protection under the law. Its meaning to Loughner could not be clearly discerned.
-- Following the shootings, all legislation on the House schedule for the coming week was postponed, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said. The decision was made by leaders of both parties and means the House will not vote next week on the repeal of health care reform.

[JungleMan]

1) From reading about this Jared character, Palin-following, Rush-listening Tea Partier isn't the first thing that comes to mind.

2) Even if he was, I don't think a single map that amounts to RHETORIC as in "targeting" a certain district for purposes of political campaigning, will turn a non-violent, sane-minded individual with right-leaning political views into a gun-toting murderer. If someone is deranged enough to attempt to assassinate a politician, they're going to do it regardless of how suggestive Sarah Palin's website is of it.

3) It's interesting to note that liberal icon Markos Moulitsas (of Daily Kos fame) ALSO posted a "target list" with Giffords name in boldface, later noting that he had put a "bulls eye" on their district.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6...882/511/541568