RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) Shot At Speaking Event

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot In Arizona
by NPR Staff
Susan Walsh/AP


Susan Walsh/AP Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., poses with House Speaker John Boehner Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington.
text size A A A January 8, 2011 U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot outside a grocery store in Tucson while holding a public event, Arizona Public Media reported Saturday.

The Democrat, who was re-elected to her third term in November, was hosting a "Congress on Your Corner" event at the Safeway in northwest Tucson when a gunman ran up and started shooting, according to Peter Michaels, news director of Arizona Public Media.

At least five other people, including members of her staff, were hurt. Giffords was transported to University Medical Center in Tucson. Her condition was not immediately known.

Giffords was talking to a couple when the suspect ran up firing indiscriminately and then ran off, Michaels said. According to other witnesses, he was tackled by a bystander and taken into custody.

Giffords was first elected to represent Arizona's 8th District in 2006. The "Congress on Your Corner" events allow constituents to present their concerns directly to her.

More details to come.

Oh here we go...

Courtesy of Democratic Underground

Although this is just crazy liberal Democrats, not the media.

It took less than 2 minutes for G-man to do his usual thing. Me, I'll wait till some facts become availlable.

Its more likely that the violence in Mexico is spreading farther into America.

Mexico's down fall was brought on by hippies telling them that ethanol would be hugely successful when it wasn't so this is the democrats fault.

Arizona congresswoman dies in shooting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

NPR is reporting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was among seven killed in a shooting Saturday during a public event outside a grocery store in Tucson.
...

GUN RIGHTS

Giffords has discussed her gun ownership and support for gun rights [16] opposing the DC gun ban and signing an Amicus curiae brief with the US Supreme Court to support overturning it. [16][17] She has a D+ rating from the NRA[18] and a D- from the GOA.[19]

IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY

Arizona's 8th Congressional District is one of 10 in the country bordering Mexico. Giffords has stated that the Arizona SB1070 legislation is a "clear calling that the federal government needs to do a better job".[20] and saying that she hopes the legislation acts as a wake up call to the federal government despite the fact that it "does nothing to secure our border". [21]

On August 31, 2010 Congresswoman Giffords praised the arrival of National Guard troops on the border: "Arizonans have waited a long time for the deployment of the National Guard in our state. Their arrival represents a renewed national commitment to protecting our border communities from drug cartels and smugglers."[22]

Giffords worked to secure passage of the August 2010 bill to to fund more Border Patrol agents and surveillance technology for Arizona’s border with Mexico. The legislation passed the House of Representatives only to be sent back by the U.S. Senate with reduced funding. Ultimately a $600 million bill was passed and signed in to law. The bill was over $100 million less than Giffords fought for, but she said that “This funding signals a stronger federal commitment to protect those Americans who live and work near the border.”[23]

In 2008, Giffords introduced legislation that would have increased the cap on the H-1B visa from 65,000 per year to 130,000 per year.[24] If that was not sufficient, according to her legislation, the cap would have been increased to 180,000 per year.[25] The bill would have allowed, at most, 50% of employees at any given company with at least 50 employees to be H-1B guest workers.[26] A large number of H-1B visas are used by outsourcing companies, as five of the top ten users of the visa are regularly outsourcing corporations.[27] Giffords claimed the bill would help high-tech companies in southern Arizona, some of which rely on H1-B employees.[26] Giffords' bill was never voted on by the house of representatives.

You really are trying your hardest to justify the shooting, aren't you?

Jared Laughner, Gabrielle Giffords Shooter (INFO)

Jared Laughner, the man who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), was described by eyewitnesses as a young white man who looked like a "fringe character."

Laughner shot Giffords and 12 others at a public event at a Safeway grocery store in Tucscon. He reportedly shot the congresswoman "point blank" in the head and may have come from inside the store. After shooting Giffords, he allegedly fired 20-30 rounds and hit "a number of people," including a child. He attempted to flee after running out of ammunition and was tackled by one of Giffords' staffers.

Eyewitnesses have described Laughner as "young, mid-to-late 20s, white, clean-shaven with short hair and wearing dark clothing."

He was arrested upon arrival of the sheriff's department.

How does exposing Democrats' attempts to slander conservatives and blame them for the shooting "justify" the shooting?

Dipshit.

You're more interested in protecting your party than the reality of the situation. Six people including a kid were killed today and all you care about is protecting an almost meaningless group of people that can't even define themselves.

But go ahead and keep attacking me, that will make it all better.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10

His youtube channel. The guy is just plain nuts.

Attorney General promises all necessary resources in investigating 'senseless act'
By Peter Schroeder - 01/08/11 06:05 PM ET

Attorney General Eric Holder promised to use "every resource necessary" to investigate the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).


Up to 18 people were injured Saturday when a gunman began firing on a public event hosted by Giffords in front of a Tucson grocery store. At least five people have died, including a federal judge. The suspected shooter, 22-year old Jared Lee Loughner, is in custody.

The president sent FBI Director Robert Mueller to Tucson to help oversee the investigation.

“Today’s tragedy in Arizona was a senseless act of violence that has already resulted in devastating loss, including the death of Chief United States District Court Judge John Roll and four other individuals and the wounding of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and a number of others," said Holder in a statement.


"The FBI is working jointly with local law enforcement to investigate today’s events, and I have directed department prosecutors and law enforcement officials to use every resource necessary to investigate this tragedy. I want to assure the people of Arizona and every American that we will hold accountable anyone responsible for these heinous acts.”

Yeah, that's a guy off his meds right there. Pretty obvious he's neither right nor left but some sort of "all politicians are evil" equal opportunity nutjob.

That won't stop the far left partisans from trying to blame Palin and/or the Tea Party, however.

Giffords: Dem Who Wins In Conservative District
by The Associated Press
PHOENIX January 8, 2011, 07:31 pm ET
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, one of Arizona's most high-profile Democats, always has seemed an unlikely voter choice in the state's conservative-leaning 8th Congressional District.

But the Democrat from Tucson has managed to win election three times by holding centrist positions, reaching out to constituents and bucking her party's position on many issues as a key member of the "Blue Dog Coalition" Democrats.

She has been tough on border security, but supports comprehensive immigration reform.

She voted for President Barack Obama's stimulus and health care reforms, but pushed the administration to put armed National Guard troops on Arizona's border with Mexico to stop drug and human smuggling.

In the wake of her November re-election win — where she fended off a strong tea party challenger in a Republican year that saw two other Arizona Democrats swept from Congress — Giffords has been mentioned as a possible Democratic nominee in 2012 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Jon Kyl or for the governor's office in 2014. Kyl has not said whether he'll run again.

"When you're talking about a future gubernatorial race or anything else, when you've run three times in a Republican district in a state that still has a narrow Republican majority, she goes to the top of the list," said Don Bivens, state Democratic Party chairman.

Giffords, 40, a one-time Republican, became a Democrat in 2000 and won election to the Arizona House, where she served one term. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona Senate and was re-elected in 2004, then stepped down in 2006 to try for the seat of retiring Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe.

Known as "Gabby," she won an easy victory by taking conservative positions for a Democrat in the district that had elected the moderate Kolbe 11 times — helped by the missteps of an ultraconservative Republican who failed even to win Kolbe's endorsement. She was easily re-election in 2008.

She maintained her popularity in her district — anchored by Tucson and swinging south toward conservative retirement communities like Green Valley and east to even more conservative Cochise County — by scheduling regular outreach meetings to meet constituents one-on-one. It was at just such a meeting in Tucson where she was shot Saturday.

She admitted in an October interview with The Associated Press that such events can sometimes be challenging.

"You know, the crazies on all sides, the people who come out, the planet earth people," she said following an appearance with Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Tucson where Mullen was questioned by a woman who wanted the army to start "building cities instead of destroying them."

"I'm glad this just doesn't happen to me," she said with a laugh.

In March, her Tucson office was vandalized a few hours after the House vote to approve the health care law, with someone either kicking or shooting out a glass door and window. In an interview later, Giffords referred to the animosity against her by conservatives.

Giffords met astronaut Mark E. Kelly, who has piloted space shuttles Endeavour and Discovery, in 2003 while they were serving on a committee in China. They were married in January 2007, while Giffords served on the House Science and Technology space subcommittee. The couple have no children.

I just hope Sarah and Tea Party members everywhere are holding up OK. They're the real victims here.

A woman named Caitie Parker has been tweeting that she went to school with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' alleged shooter Jared Loughner and that he had met Giffords previously.

Also," he was a pot head & into rock like Hendrix,The Doors, Anti-Flag. I haven't seen him in person since '07 in a sign language class" and "As I knew him he was left wing, quite liberal. & oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy."