The AP has reported that the gunman has been identified as Jared Loughner. There's still uncertainty about Loughner's motives and politics. But a Youtube video posted under the name Jared Lee Loughner of Tucson proposes creating a "new currency," and rails against non-English speakers "in District 8" -- Giffords's congressional district.
But it's worth noting that Giffords -- who in 2006 became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, at 36 -- has, for more than a year, been the target of violence-tinged rhetoric from political opponents and of threats that appear to have come from right-wing activists. Asked by the New York Post whether his daughter had any enemies, Giffords's father replied:
"The whole tea party." In August 2009, an attendee at a Giffords town-hall meeting dropped a handgun, leading Giffords's staff to call the police.
"We have never felt the need before to notify law enforcement when we hold these events," her spokesman said at the time.
After Giffords voted in favor of the health-care overhaul in March, she said that vandals had broken the glass door of her Tucson office.
"The rhetoric is incredibly heated, not just the calls but the emails, the slurs," she told MSNBC at the time. "Things have really gotten spun up."
She added: "We do have these polarized parts of our parties that really get excited, and that's where ... all of us have to come together and say, 'OK, there's a fine line here.' "
That same month,
Sarah Palin's political action committee posted a map of the US, showing the locations of the 20 Democratic members of Congress, including Giffords, it was targeting for defeat. Each location was marked by an image of a gun crosshairs. Palin's camp dismissed charges that she was encouraging acts of violence, saying she had spoken out against violence. But Giffords herself was one of many who spoke out against the image, telling MSNBC:
"When people do that, they've gotta realize there's consequences to that action." Since Giffords' shooting,
SarahPAC appears to have removed Giffords' name from the list. And Palin herself today posted the following on Facebook: "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."
In June, the campaign of Giffords' Republican opponent in this year's midterms, Jesse Kelly, placed an ad that read: "Get on target for victory in November/ Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office/ Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly."
The website for Kelly, a former US Marine, depicted him with holding an automatic weapon.
Today, Kelly said in a tweet: "We are all deeply saddened by this morning's shooting. Gabrielle Giffords, the other victims, and their families are in our prayers."
For links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110108/ts_yblog_thelookout/giffords-had-been-target-of-violent-threats
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
