The Arizona Assassin: Seriously Disturbed History

Pols' security getting closer look in wake of Ariz. shootings
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush said Monday he would move his district office to a safer neighborhood, and Sen. Mark Kirk planned to attend a town hall meeting with extra protection in the wake of the weekend shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. But some other members of Illinois' congressional delegation did not anticipate security changes. "In terms of curtailing my activities or having protection, that wouldn't work," Rep. Mike Quigley said. Quigley, a Democrat from the North Si...

Suspect in Arizona shootings appears in court
By David Schwartz PHOENIX, Arizona | Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:42pm EST PHOENIX, Arizona (Reuters) - A troubled 22-year-old College Dropout made his first court appearance on Monday on five federal charges, including the attempted Assassination of Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who remained in critical condition with a bullet wound to the head. His hands manacled together, Jared Lee Loughner said understood the charges against him that stem from a Shooting Spree in Tucson on Saturday that left s...

Arizona gunman in court as Obama leads mourning
The man accused of trying to assassinate a congresswoman in an Arizona Shooting Spree that left six dead appeared in court but said nothing to shed light on his motive. President Barack Obama led the American nation in a somber minute of silence to honor the 20 people gunned down in Tucson -- where he will attend a memorial service on Wednesday, the White House announced. Flags were at half-staff at the Capitol in Washington, where hundreds of aides and lawmakers crammed the storied steps of Con...

Arizona Sheriff Dupnik Was Aware of Loughners Mental Illness, Did Nothing
From Reuters: The suspect in Saturday’s shooting rampage in which a U.S. congresswoman was critically wounded was unstable and had been known to make Death Threats in the past, the local sheriff said. The FBI is investigating whether the man is the same person who posted a rambling Internet manifesto accusing the government of mind control and demanding a new currency. Jared Lee Loughner, 22, of Tucson, was taken into Custody moments after the shooting at a political meeting held by Dem...

Obama Will Be in Arizona for Memorial
(NewsCore) - President Barack Obama will head to Arizona Wednesday for a memorial service being held in honor of the Victims of a shooting rampage that killed six and wounded more than a dozen Saturday, including US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Fox News Channel reported. Obama earlier Monday thanked Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik for his department’s efforts in the aftermath of the shooting. The president also rang two heroes from the scene of the shooting, Patricia Maisch and Ro...

Suspect in Arizona shootings appears in court
By David Schwartz PHOENIX, Arizona | Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:42pm EST PHOENIX, Arizona (Reuters) - A troubled 22-year-old College Dropout made his first court appearance on Monday on five federal charges, including the attempted Assassination of Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who remained in critical condition with a bullet wound to the head. His hands manacled together, Jared Lee Loughner said understood the charges against him that stem from a Shooting Spree in Tucson on Saturday that left s...

Arizona shootings prompt call for ban on high-capacity clips
For many in Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' southeastern Arizona district, guns are a way of life for hunting and protection while they're working on their ranches in a part of the country that has become Ground Zero for Smuggling. But, to some East Coast lawmakers, that gun culture led to Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., which killed six and wounded the congresswoman and 13 others. Now two lawmakers have said they'll push for tougher gun controls, including stricter limits on high-capacit...

Pima County GOP Chair Calls On Obama To 'Stop The Blame'
TUCSON, AZ -- With President Obama reportedly set to visit this divided and mourning Arizona city Wednesday, the chair of the county Republican party is calling on the president to help put an end to what he calls "assigning blame" in the wake of Saturday's shooting at a constituent event for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) that left six dead and the congresswoman gravely wounded. Brian Miller called on Obama to "lead the effort to stop the blame" after the shooting, responsibility for which he...

Spaceman leads US shooting tribute
Scott Kelly, a crew member of the mission to the International Space Station, left, and his brother, Mark Kelly, also an Astronaut and husband of Gabrielle Giffords. Photo: AP Space station commander Scott Kelly led NASA in a moment of silence as he struggled with the shooting of his US congresswoman sister-in-law as well as six people who were killed. It was part of the national observance on Monday for all the Victims of Saturday's shooting in Arizona. His identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, i...

Security heightened at public event attended by Chafee
Attending a Warwick news conference Monday at which a moment of silence was held for Victims of the Arizona shooting are, from left, Rep. James Langevin, Governor Chafee, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed. WARWICK — Police officers — uniformed and in plain clothes — were part of the crowd in Warwick Monday as Governor Chafee and members of the state’s congressional delegation showed up for their first public event since Saturday’s shooting of an Arizona ...

Giffords promoted softer political discourse in email to GOP colleague day before shooting
Stumble This! Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) on the eve of the shooting that left her in critical condition and six others dead wrote an email to a Republican colleague promoting a softer public political discourse. "After you get settled, I would love to talk about what we can do to promote centrism and moderation," Giffords wrote to Trey Grayson, Kentucky Secretary of State who resigned to take a position as director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Giffords wrote the congr...

Obama Headed to Tucson for Wednesday Memorial
Hmm, Obama is attending this memorial Wednesday in Tucson, but when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in Arizona in December, it was enough just to send Secretary Janet Napolitano to the memorial. kold.com Two senior administration officials say President Obama will travel to Tucson on Wednesday to attend a memorial service for the Victims of last weekend's shooting rampage . Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is in critical condition after being shot in the head Saturday. Si...

Here, In Reality
A lot of memes are dying a bitter death as more information comes about about Jared Loughner's rampage at Gabrielle Giffords' townhall. Despite dishonest attempts by a corrupt media and their Left Wing allies to blame Conservatives and the Tea Party movement for the shootings, the truth has emerged. Loughner—according to those who knew him in High School and college—was very liberal when he was younger, but began displaying behavior that became increasingly erratic, and his obsess...

Jared Loughner Is a Tragedy, Not a Nut Job or the Embodiment of Evil
I'm haunted by last week's episode of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," in which a disturbed young man opens fire on dozens of people on a college campus. Several doctors are put to the ultimate test when they realize the man they are trying desperately to save is the shooter. Back in the waiting room, relatives of the many Victims are comforting one another – except for a tearful woman sitting alone in a corner. Dr. Jackson Avery walked out of the operating room rather than help save the perpetrato...

Loughner in court over attempted assassination
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 January 2011 03.04 GMT Jared Loughner has appeared in court where he was formally charged with two counts of Murder and three of Attempted Murder. Photograph: Mamta Popat/AP Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of shooting six people and wounding 14 others in Saturday's Assassination attempt against the Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has appeared in court, charged with Murder and Attempted Murder. Loughner, 22, who arrived in leg chains and handcuffs and...

Jared Loughner Charged
Jan.  10, 2011  Jared Lee Loughner Charged with 5 Counts of Murder, Attempted Murder and murder involving a member of Congress.  He indicated he understood the charges in court and his lawyer spoke to him offering her guidance.  The same lawyer Judy Clarke who has defended another mass murderer the Unabomer Ted Kaczinski has seen insanity defenses before. Loughner has said nothing about why he did the murders and what drove him to trying to assassinate a US congresswoman in...

Tragedy in Arizona
Gabrielle Giffords was doing what members of Congress do every week: She was home in Tucson to meet with her constituents. Today, Giffords lies in critical condition in a Tucson Hospital after one of those constituents opened fire with a semiautomatic Handgun. Six people died in the attack; 14 were injured. The madness at the Tucson shopping center Saturday morning raises old and troubling questions about gun violence in America and threatens a treasured American tradition: the right of the pe...

Chris Weigant: Heroism
When a national tragedy happens -- especially one with political relevance -- the country explodes in a paroxysm of commentary about the incident, in what psychologists would probably label a desperate attempt to attach some sort of meaning. Looking around the media universe today, I see that this is now happening from all sides. Snap judgments are made, spin is spun, and everyone tries to fit what happened into their own view of the world, whatever that happens to be. But since everyone else ...

End Game
The Tucson Murders: "Disturbed 22-year-old loner Jared Lee Loughner was held without bail Monday after being charged with murder and (Read more...) ...

Shock and silence: US honours shooting victims
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama observe a 'moment of silence' on the South Lawn at the White House to honor Victims of the Tucson shooting. Photo: AFP SOMBRE chimes rang out across a frosty Washington today, plunging America into a moment of silence, and President Barack Obama voiced a nation's shock over an Arizona shooting rampage. Mourners gathered at the White House, at the US Capitol, and at a Hospital in the southwestern state where lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords, the pri...

First Keep The Focus On Grief: Obama To Attend Memorial In Arizona On Wednesday Before Likely Speech And Gun Rights Clampdown
Related Video: Leftist Clampdown Ahead? Obama’s Political Signal: Grief Is For Now But “In The Coming Days, We’ll Have Time To Reflect” WASHINGTON - A senior administration official says President Barack Obama will travel to Arizona on Wednesday to attend a memorial service for the Victims of last weekend’s shooting rampage. Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is in critical condition after being shot in the head Saturday. Six others died and more than a dozen

The Arizona Shooting: The Last Assassination of the 60s
Ben Johnson, FloydReports.com As the media and left-wingers spin the attempted Assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as an act of Tea Party violence, perhaps even they have a nagging little voice telling them they are overlooking the factors that really led to this tragedy, which claimed the lives of six people — including three septuagenarians and a nine-year-old girl. While the Left has predictably tried to use this attack to smear its political opponents, Conservatives hav...

Jared Loughner Will be Defended By the Woman Who Helped the Unabomber Avoid the Death Penalty
Media-shy Judy Clarke in 1998. Photo: RICH PEDRONCELLI/AFP/Getty Images Judy Clarke, a San Diego-based public defender, will represent Jared Lee Loughner, the twenty-two year old charged with shooting Gabrielle Giffords and seventeen other people, killing six. Even Fidel Castro has voiced disdain for Loughner, who authorities describe as "a troubled individual," but Clarke is no stranger to defending high-profile Public Enemies. Previously, she represented the Unabomber, Eric Robert Rudolph (t...

Yes, There is a Political Climate of Hate
While millions of Americans are privately praying for Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the rest of the Victims of a crazed gunman and their grieving families, those on the left have been repeatedly calling for an end to the politics of hate. Not the hate filled heart of a lunatic. No, they want to shut up those with whom they disagree. So they classify anyone with a differing point a view a hate-monger. It’s appalling and I don’t even want to link to any of it because I’...

Good Morning FishbowlDC Readers
“Had so many send me ugly words from both sides. Rather than post/defend/condemn, I pledge to be more careful in my own language” — Roll Call Associate Politics Editor Christina Bellantoni in a weekend tweet. “ Daniel Hernandez , who risked his life to help Rep. Giffords , seems like a fine choice to sit in the House Gallery during State of the Union.” — @WestWingReport in a weekend tweet. “Gabe Zimmerman was aide killed. I knew Gabe well during my time ...