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Arizona Shooter Charged As Political Debate Rages
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 9, 2011
Modified Jan 9, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 9, 2011
Modified Jan 9, 2011
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The US Attorney in Arizona has filed charges against Jared Lee Loughner, the accused gunman in yesterday's tragic shooting in Arizona in which six people were killed and 14 wounded. He has been hit with three charges of attempted murder (of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and two members of her staff) and two charges of murdering federal employees (Judge John Roll and Gabriel Zimmerman, a Giffords staff member). And inspectors now believe Loughner was a lone gunman, and have found evidence of a premeditated attempt to assassinate Rep. Giffords.
Police had been searching for a second suspect who was captured on surveillance camera, but the officials announced this afternoon that the second man had been found and cleared of any involvement in the shootings. Police say that the second man was a taxi driver who drove Loughner to the meet-and-greet event where Rep. Giffords was appearing; when Loughner said he had to go into the Safeway store for change, the taxi driver followed him, which is why people saw them together. Even with Loughner in FBI custody, there are a lot of vicious accusations being slung between conservatives and liberals over the political rhetoric which may have fueled the emotions behind the shooting.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik spoke passionately during a news conference yesterday about the unstable, polarizing state of politics in Arizona: “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. And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.” Much of the anger in this incident has been directed toward Sarah Palin, whose "Take Back the 20" initiative, an attempt to replace 20 Democrats who voted for the health care bill, targeted Giffords; in particular, Palin used a "gun target" image as part of the campaign. Giffords discussed Palin's initiative with MSNBC last March, and said, “Sarah Palin has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district and when people do that, they’ve gotta realize there are consequences to that action.”
The News thinks that Palin's violent rhetoric (including labeling Giffords a "target") deserves some responsibility for the incident: "anyone with any sense at all knows that violent language can incite actual violence, that metaphor can incite murder. At the very least, Palin added to a climate of violence." Matt Bai thinks that it's a larger problem than a Blue/Red divide, speaking to a carelessness in our culture: "It’s more that [politicians] are so caught up in a culture of hyperbole, so amused with their own verbal flourishes and the ensuing applause, that — like the bloggers and TV hosts to which they cater — they seem to lose their hold on the power of words."
Conservative blogger Erick Erickson took some umbrage with Republicans getting blamed for the shooting, and argued that the media (and Democrats) have placed conservatives in danger with their implications: "By perpetuating the lie - by even treating it as a legitimate topic of consideration to revisit the accusations of violence and hate the media tried to run with prior to the November election - that the right and the tea party incited this evil act, the left and media may very well incite violence against the right." But one senior Republican senator, who spoke to Politico anonymously, thinks the terrible incident should be taken as a “cautionary tale” by Republicans. “There is a need for some reflection here - what is too far now? What was too far when Oklahoma City happened is accepted now. There’s been a desensitizing. These town halls and cable TV and talk radio, everybody’s trying to outdo each other.”
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gabrielle giffords
jared lee loughner
shooting
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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