Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, was shot and killed today at a public event outside a grocery store.
A spokesman for the Pima County sheriff says that at least 12 people were shot. The Tucson Citizen reports that Rep. Giffords was "shot point blank in the head."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/08/gabrielle-giffords-shot-c_n_806211.html
For fuck sakes! It was only a matter of time.
Huffington Post reports that Giffords is in fact, still alive.
She was one of the 20 representatives on Sarah Palin's "Take back the 20" target map. Link to it here:
http://twitter.com/jackiementer
The site is being worked on right now (and no doubt revised). The original site had a gunsight target on her head.
(edit) that's what I read. THis is all I could find through a search, and it's not in the wayback machine yet:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qaR83Z5EiIQ/S7O37mgijRI/AAAAAAAACko/H10MPx8zsE...
Last report was that six other people were killed in that attack.
'Conflicting reports on Rep. Giffords' condition' is the tag line on CNN.
Anything on the suspect?
Just confirmed dead.
http://www.vancouversun.com/Congresswoman+Gabrielle+Giffords+shot+confir...
There are now reports that she is still alive & in critical condition
Here's a notice for an event held by the Republican who ran against her last year:
Her office was also vandalized last March during the Obamacare debate.
And while that vandalism and targeting was taking place there were lots of gun and gunplay ads and talk and imagery... generally directed at no one in particular of course.
I always knew of her as a prime target for when this was going to happen.
In the past 5 minutes, her Wikipedia page has changed twice, saying initially she was assassinated, then saying she was shot, based on a NYT article that has similarly been modified. It's rather macabre, watching this scramble between the news networks to be the 1st one to say she's dead. Reminds me of back in '81, when James Brady was falsely confirmed dead after being shot in the head at that attempted assassination of Reagan.
Apparently, one of her aids has been confirmed deceased in the attack.
The article I linked in my previous post now says this:
U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot, reports conflict about her condition.
Her office was also vandalized last March during the Obamacare debate.
And a gun was found on the ground at a campaign rally of hers
The Hysterical States of America. Jesus.
Word is that she is in surgery. 21 year old white male said to be in custody.
She was a DLC Dem who barely won re-election in November.
Report that federal judge John Roll was killed in the shooting.
Her office was also vandalized last March during the Obamacare debate.
Thank God for Harper's US/Canada perimeter defense. That oughta keep them terrists out, er, corralled, eh? You betcha.
Surely the government will stop Palin if she attempts to speak here on the grounds that she incites terrorist acts 
Giffords expected to survive. Through and through wound in the head. Out of surgery.
Thread title needs to change.
Thread title needs to change.
So more right wing justice at work here. Is this what's coming with Harper's right-wing agenda in Canada? After all Flanagan called for the Weakileaks guy to be assassinated, didn't he?
Last I heard Gifford is alive but in critical condition. 6 others died however.
U.S. congresswoman, staffers shot at event in Tucson: reports
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/us-congresswoman-staf...
Report that federal judge John Roll was killed in the shooting.
http://judgepedia.org/index.php/John_Roll
Judge Roll in 2009, faced death threats after presiding over a $32 million civil-rights lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by illegal immigrants against an Arizona rancher. After Judge Roll ruled the case would be certified, threats came from talk-radio shows which fueled controversy and spurred audiences into making threats against the judge[2].
The threats materialized after one show, Judge Roll's name logged more than 200 phone calls as some callers threatened the judge and his family[2].
This resulted in the judge and his wife were under a protection detail for one month as Judge Roll was given twenty four hours a day, seven days a week security by the US Marshals Service. An US Attorney's investigation ruled that four men were identified as threat makers, but no charges were filed[2].
In a July 9, 2009 interview with the Arizona Republic, Judge Roll described the time under high security as "unnerving and invasive. . . . By its nature it has to be," Roll said. Roll also said, "It (the security) was handled very professionally by the Marshals Service."[2]
At the end of the month, Roll said four key men had been identified as threat makers[2].
Person arrested was Jared Loughner. May be right-wing nut based on this supposed tweet:
Loughner: Every US Government official agency is illegally accepting payment without gold or silver. The swat (cont) http://tl.gd/...
less than 5 seconds ago via Osfoora HD
Based on hospital press conference, Roll is not deceased at this time, but is in critical condition. Only one person confirmed dead. A nine year old girl.
Person arrested was Jared Loughner. May be right-wing nut based on this supposed tweet:
Loughner: Every US Government official agency is illegally accepting payment without gold or silver. The swat (cont) http://tl.gd/...
less than 5 seconds ago via Osfoora HD
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0111/Alleged_shooter_left_social_media_hints.html?showall
US lawmaker gravely injured in shooting; 6 dead
The incident came after packages ignited in a post office in Washington, DC on Friday and two government buildings in neighboring Maryland on Thursday.
Giffords, 40, became the first Jewish woman to be elected to Congress from Arizona in 2006 and is married to Mark Kelly, a NASA astronaut.
She was a centrist and a member of the so-called Blue Dog Coalition of Democrats who support fiscally conservative, pro-business policies.
She has pushed for more troops to guard the nearby US-Mexico border and favored a path to legalization that would require illegal immigrants to pass a criminal background check, pay back taxes and learn English.
US federal judge John Roll of Arizona was also shot, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jWCWFVg6tizG43zOPF-M-...
Giffords, 40, became the first Jewish woman to be elected to Congress from Arizona in 2006 and is married to Mark Kelly, a NASA astronaut.
She was a centrist and a member of the so-called Blue Dog Coalition of Democrats who support fiscally conservative, pro-business policies.
She has pushed for more troops to guard the nearby US-Mexico border and favored a path to legalization that would require illegal immigrants to pass a criminal background check, pay back taxes and learn English.
If she'd been a Republican, which based on her profile above she could very well be, I don't think there'd be as much emotion about this shooting. Correction - as much sad emotion. If she'd been Republican the emotion would be ....Shadenfreud? Is that right?
Perhaps Palin should be charged.
U.S. congresswoman in surgery after being shot in Arizona
Giffords had been targeted by U.S. conservatives over her support for passage last year of Obama's health-care reform legislation. Her Arizona office was vandalized, its front door smashed, after passage of the health care bill last March.
At the time, Giffords' spokesman said it appeared someone either shot at the door or smashed it with another object. "We think a pellet gun was fired at the door. We're not sure," C.J. Karamargin told a local television station.
Giffords was also one of 20 members of Congress who was included in a controversial online posting by former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin following the health care vote. On her political action committee's website, Palin posted a crosshairs target over Giffords' district and listed her by name as a lawmaker to defeat in the midterm elections.
Palin came under heavy criticism from liberal groups who accused her of being reckless in using militaristic language and imagery to criticize members of Congress.
Giffords staff had for a time been worried about her safety.
In the summer of 2009, one of Giffords' staff members reported that a gun had been left at another town hall meeting hosted by the congresswoman.
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/congresswoman+surgery+after+being+shot+Arizona/4080780/story.html
Is the first kick at the can to kill Obama's heath reform legislation?
Republicans seek to bleed Obama's health reform
Maybe a glimmer of hope in this nitemare.
Doctor optimistic about Congresswoman Giffords' recovery
"She's in critical condition," Dr. Peter Rhee said. "The neurosurgeons have finished operating on her and I can tell you that in the current time period I am very optimistic about recovery ... she was following commands.
Title changed.
Looking forward to the response from the Palin camp and the Teabaggers in general. AlthoughI'm sure it will make me want to barf when I see it.
Wildermore, I'm not sure where you're coming from, but that was kind of a jerk response.
This is the second time in two years that someone has targeted liberals (sic) in a mass shooting.
These shooting strongly suggest what we have always said about the American crypto-fascist right: the underside of their catroonish, inflated and highly pitched rhetoric is blood, violence and death.
Looking forward to the response from the Palin camp and the Teabaggers in general. AlthoughI'm sure it will make me want to barf when I see it.
From her facebook page:
My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today's tragic shooting in Arizona.On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice.
- Sarah Palin
10,511 people like this.
Just watched Governor Jan Brewer, clearly traumatized by this, calling the Congresswoman her friend and colleague, and has ordered all flags in the state to fly at half mast. I used to vacation in New Mexico and Arizona (Phoenix and Tucson), and am feeling really upset right now.
Is the first kick at the can to kill Obama's heath reform legislation?
Who cares?
Anyway, when it comes to murdering people abroad, all factions in the U.S. seem united. I'm sorry to see the brutes killing their own, but one must truly take it all in its proper context. This is a country which the people of the world must bring down - Dems, Reps, Teas, and all.
If she'd been a Republican, which based on her profile above she could very well be, I don't think there'd be as much emotion about this shooting. Correction - as much sad emotion. If she'd been Republican the emotion would be ....Shadenfreud? Is that right?
Not from my quarter; why would you assume that? If it is true that a nine-year old girl is one of the deceased, I am pretty sure nobody has anything but tears for that. I feel intense anger and sadness at the same time. At the time I was reading the original pieces, I was listening to Led Zeppelin's cover of "For What's Its Worth" and the line "there is a man with a gun over there" was far more impactful than I could ever recall previously. This is a bad omen of what is to come and to what is surely to accelerate.
* * *
...
The dissolve of the United States will be many bangs and whimpers at the same time continuously.
If she'd been a Republican, which based on her profile above she could very well be, I don't think there'd be as much emotion about this shooting. Correction - as much sad emotion. If she'd been Republican the emotion would be ....Shadenfreud? Is that right?
How many of the 26 preceding post do you see focused on "sad emotion"?
Since most of the previous posts focus on the uses of violence imagery employed for political change in the US, maybe you could try to make a reverse case to demonstrate a comparble frenzied culture of establishment Democrat gun brandishing, congresperson targeting, ads out there which is likely to lead to a Republican politicians shooting.
This is a very well tried and truly effective way to discourage anyone who does not have the most conservative views from getting involved in politics in the USA. No wonder they are so fucked.
Hopefully this will be the end of both Palin politically and the Tea Party
3:11 PM ET Giffords' Father: 'The Whole Tea Party' An Enemy Of Giffords
The New York Post:
Her father Spencer Giffords, 75, wept when asked if his 40-year-old daughter had any enemies.
"Yeah," he told The Post. "The whole tea party."
Who breeds people like this?
[url=http://giffords.house.gov/2009/12/us-rep-gabrielle-giffords-statement-on... Giffords - last year - supporting the sending of tens of thousands of additional troops into Afghanistan:[/url]
The most enduring tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 is to make sure Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for al Qaeda terrorists and their allies. It was clear to me when I visited Afghanistan in September that this remains a war worth fighting. We went in with a specific military goal: to hunt down the terrorists who had attacked our nation and to remove from power the Taliban who sheltered those terrorists and dispossessed the Afghan people.
Is there a reason why this thread is focusing on Giffords, as opposed to all the other people who were shot? Is she of some superior importance in the scheme of things? Do we have any evidence that she was the target of this atrocity?
Just wondering.
ETA: Oh wait a sec: Is it "bad taste" to be discussing the role Giffords played in the occupation and murder of another nation?
Uh, because she's an elected official. And she was conducting a meet and greet at the time she was shot.
Is there a reason why this thread is focusing on Giffords, as opposed to all the other people who were shot? Is she of some superior importance in the scheme of things? Do we have any evidence that she was the target of this atrocity?
Just wondering.
ETA: Oh wait a sec: Is it "bad taste" to be discussing the role Giffords played in the occupation and murder of another nation?
In the first place, it isn't. A few of us have mentioned that others have been shot.
But so far as I know this was her event, and while I don't take issue with your sentiment (though I don't agree) your question seems to be a rehash of "How do we know he was a POC?".
And I do consider an attack on a public office holder to be of superior importance when the attack concerns the office. It is an attack the institution itself. It doesn't mean that she is a better or more important person.
The fact is she was targetted, and the judge who was also shot had received actual death threats.
Apparently a doctor who was in the operating room said she was responsive and following directions.
Looking forward to the response from the Palin camp and the Teabaggers in general. AlthoughI'm sure it will make me want to barf when I see it.
Wildermore, I'm not sure where you're coming from, but that was kind of a jerk response.
...and yours isn't?
Uh, because she's an elected official. And she was conducting a meet and greet at the time she was shot.
Inadequate response as to why this thread is about her, josh, with all due respect. John Roll is also an "elected official" - and he was killed:
[url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/slain-federal-judge-john-rol... federal judge John Roll was at the center of Arizona's immigration debate[/url]
In February 2009, Roll received hundreds of threats after he allowed a lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants against a rancher to go forward. "They cursed him out, threatened to kill his family, said they'd come and take care of him. They really wanted him dead," a law enforcement official told The Washington Post in May 2009.
I find the reports in the U.S. media, and much of the speculation in this thread, frankly offensive, ahistorical, and essentially useless.
Semi-automatic weapon used in attack.
"Inadequate response as to why this thread is about her, josh, with all due respect."
Maybe you'd like to start another thread, then.
While there is no evidence at this point to suggest that the shooting was politically motivated, Matt Yglesias points out that an anti-Giffords event was held in June with the billing: "Get on Target for Victory in November. Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly."
Rep. Giffords was also on Sarah Palin's "target list."
As noted earlier, a gun was dropped at a Giffords event in 2009, and her office was vandalized in March.
"Inadequate response as to why this thread is about her, josh, with all due respect."
Maybe you'd like to start another thread, then.
No, josh, I'll be posting in this thread, and wondering why the wounding of Giffords is a big concern for left-wing people in Canada, given: 1) The fact that other innocent people were killed; 2) nothing but political speculation that she was the one targeted; 3) the fact (as I pointed out above) that she is a booster for sending murderous troops to Afghanistan.
So this is my thread, josh, as much as yours.
I think it's human nature to express shock and dismay at this shooting, regardless of who the victims were. I was wondering if I would get an email from my ex-girlfriend in Phoenix about this, because we stayed in Tuscon many times, and we each know a few people there. No word yet.
@ U
....and the report that she was shot at close range in the head,
...and the fact that she is an elected representative, and that it was her event
But who knows. maybe the shooter had a beef with a checkout clerk in the front row and his aim was off.
And if you are saying you think her politics makes her a legitimate target for murder, I disagree.
I would think the shooting of any democratically elected official would be of concern to social democrats everywhere.
She was clearly the target, as it was her event and she was shot in the head from behind.
She's not Hitler. I don't like many of her views either, but her shooting is a news story. Should we not talk about news events?
