PHOENIX -- The 22-year-old loner accused of
trying to assassinate a U.S. congresswoman and
killing six others, appeared in court and looked on
impassively as a judge told him he could face the
death penalty for the shooting rampage that
shocked the nation.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords lay about a 100 miles away
in an intensive care unit, gravely wounded after
being shot through the head but able to give a
thumbs-up sign that doctors found as a reason
to hope.
Thirteen other people were wounded in the
bursts of gunfire at the Democratic
congresswoman's outdoor meeting with
constituents Saturday outside a Tucson, Arizona,
supermarket. Loughner was tackled to the
ground minutes after the shooting began,
authorities said. He has been silent ever since.
The shootings, which claimed the lives of six
people, including a federal judge, a congressional
aide and a nine-year-old girl, have prompted
outrage throughout the U.S. and sparked a
debate over gun control measures and whether
toxic political rhetoric fueled the incident.
Jared Loughner, his head shaved, a cut on his
right temple and in handcuffs, stared vacantly at
the packed courtroom before sitting down to
listen to whispered instructions from his newly
appointed attorney, Judy Clarke. A veteran of
death cases, the San Diego attorney succeeded in
negotiating a guilty plea and a life sentence for the
"Unabomber," Theodore Kaczynski.
Loughner seemed impassive and at one point
stood at a lectern in his beige prison jumpsuit. A
U.S. marshal stood guard nearby.
The judge asked if he understood that he could
get life in prison -- or the death penalty -- for
killing federal Judge John Roll, in the shooting
rampage.
"Yes," he said. His lawyer stood beside him as the
judge ordered Loughner held without bail.
Throngs of reporters and television news crews
lined up outside the federal courthouse, where
the hearing was moved from Tucson. The entire
federal bench In Tucson recused itself because
Roll was the chief judge there.
President Barack Obama will travel to Tucson on
Wednesday to speak at a memorial service for
the victims at the University of Arizona.
Earlier in the day, the nation observed a moment
of silence for the victims, from the South Lawn of
the White House and the steps of the U.S. Capitol
to legislatures beyond Arizona and the planet
itself. At the International Space Station, Giffords'
brother-in-law, Scott Kelly, the commanding
officer, spoke over the radio as flight controllers in
Houston fell silent.
"As I look out the window, I see a very beautiful
planet that seems very inviting and peaceful," he
said. "Unfortunately, it is not.
"These days, we are constantly reminded of the
unspeakable acts of violence and damage we can
inflict upon one another, not just with our
actions, but also with our irresponsible words,"
he said.
"We're better than this," he said. "We must do
better."
On a frigid morning outside the White House,
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stood side
by side, each with their hands clasped, heads
bowed and eyes closed. On the steps of the U.S.
Capitol, congressional staff and other employees
did the same.
At the Supreme Court, the justices paused for a
moment of silence between the two cases they
were hearing Monday morning.
The president called for the country to come
together in prayer or reflection for those killed and
those fighting to recover.
"In the coming days, we're going to have a lot of
time to reflect," he said. "Right now the main
thing we're doing is to offer our thoughts and
prayers to those who've been impacted, making
sure we're joining together and pulling together
as a country."
Later Monday, a moment of silence was held at
the BCS national college football championship
between Oregon and Auburn in Glendale,
Arizona.
The shooting highlighted tensions that have been
running high between conservatives and liberals
in the United States, where activists and talk show
radio hosts have been employing increasingly
violent language in their criticisms of the Obama
administration.
In 2009, a protester was discovered carrying a
gun at a Giffords rally and there were signs the
congresswoman was becoming concerned
about the strident tone of the political debate in
the U.S.
The day before Giffords was wounded, she sent
an e-mail to a Republican friend discussing how
to "tone our rhetoric and partisanship down."
In the message, obtained by The Associated
Press, the Democratic congresswoman wrote to
Republican Kentucky Secretary of State Trey
Grayson to congratulate him on his new position
at Harvard University.
"After you get settled, I would love to talk about
what we can do to promote centrism and
moderation," she wrote.
Giffords, narrowly managed reelection to a third
term in 2010, in Arizona a conservative state
known for its loose gun control laws and which
made headlines last year after it passed a
draconian anti-immigration law allowing police to
stop those they suspected of being in the country
illegally.
Giffords was a vocal opponent of the law and a
supporter of Obama's healthcare law widely
opposed by conservatives.
Loughner is charged with one count of attempted
assassination of a member of Congress, two
counts of killing an employee of the federal
government and two counts of attempting to kill
a federal employee. Those are federal charges.
State prosecutors, meanwhile, are researching
whether they have to wait until after the federal
case is resolved, or if they can proceed with local
charges at the same time, an official said.
A Mass for all the victims was scheduled Tuesday
at St. Odelia's Parish in Tucson.
Among the dead was 9-year-old Christina Taylor
Green, who was born on the day of the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. Her funeral is Thursday.
It was unclear when funerals will be held for the
other victims, including one of Giffords' aides.
Giffords, 40, was shot in the head at close range.
She was in critical condition at Tucson's
University Medical Center. Two patients were
discharged Sunday night. Seven others remained
hospitalized.
Recent CT scans showed no further swelling in
Giffords' brain, but doctors were guarded.
"We're not out of the woods yet," her
neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Lemole said. "That
swelling can sometimes take three days or five
days to maximize. But every day that goes by
and we don't see an increase, we're slightly more
optimistic."
After Saturday's operation to temporarily remove
half of her skull, doctors over the past two days
had Giffords removed from her sedation and
then asked basic commands such as: "Show me
two fingers."
"When she did that, we were having a party in
there," said Dr. Peter Rhee, adding that Giffords
has also managed to give doctors a thumbs-up
and has been reaching for her breathing tube,
even while sedated.
"That's a purposeful movement. That's a great
thing. She's always grabbing for the tube," he
said.
Giffords' family is by her side and is receiving
constant updates from doctors. Her doctors have
declined to speculate on what specific disabilities
Giffords may face.
With few new details emerging at the hearing,
questions remained about what could have
motivated someone to arm himself with a pistol
and magazines carrying 33 bullets each, and rain
gunfire on a supermarket parking lot crowded
with men, women and children.
Comments from friends and former classmates
bolstered by Loughner's own Internet postings
have painted a picture of a social outcast with
almost indecipherable beliefs steeped in mistrust
and paranoia.
Source: Http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/11/arizona-suspect-face-death-rampage/
trying to assassinate a U.S. congresswoman and
killing six others, appeared in court and looked on
impassively as a judge told him he could face the
death penalty for the shooting rampage that
shocked the nation.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords lay about a 100 miles away
in an intensive care unit, gravely wounded after
being shot through the head but able to give a
thumbs-up sign that doctors found as a reason
to hope.
Thirteen other people were wounded in the
bursts of gunfire at the Democratic
congresswoman's outdoor meeting with
constituents Saturday outside a Tucson, Arizona,
supermarket. Loughner was tackled to the
ground minutes after the shooting began,
authorities said. He has been silent ever since.
The shootings, which claimed the lives of six
people, including a federal judge, a congressional
aide and a nine-year-old girl, have prompted
outrage throughout the U.S. and sparked a
debate over gun control measures and whether
toxic political rhetoric fueled the incident.
Jared Loughner, his head shaved, a cut on his
right temple and in handcuffs, stared vacantly at
the packed courtroom before sitting down to
listen to whispered instructions from his newly
appointed attorney, Judy Clarke. A veteran of
death cases, the San Diego attorney succeeded in
negotiating a guilty plea and a life sentence for the
"Unabomber," Theodore Kaczynski.
Loughner seemed impassive and at one point
stood at a lectern in his beige prison jumpsuit. A
U.S. marshal stood guard nearby.
The judge asked if he understood that he could
get life in prison -- or the death penalty -- for
killing federal Judge John Roll, in the shooting
rampage.
"Yes," he said. His lawyer stood beside him as the
judge ordered Loughner held without bail.
Throngs of reporters and television news crews
lined up outside the federal courthouse, where
the hearing was moved from Tucson. The entire
federal bench In Tucson recused itself because
Roll was the chief judge there.
President Barack Obama will travel to Tucson on
Wednesday to speak at a memorial service for
the victims at the University of Arizona.
Earlier in the day, the nation observed a moment
of silence for the victims, from the South Lawn of
the White House and the steps of the U.S. Capitol
to legislatures beyond Arizona and the planet
itself. At the International Space Station, Giffords'
brother-in-law, Scott Kelly, the commanding
officer, spoke over the radio as flight controllers in
Houston fell silent.
"As I look out the window, I see a very beautiful
planet that seems very inviting and peaceful," he
said. "Unfortunately, it is not.
"These days, we are constantly reminded of the
unspeakable acts of violence and damage we can
inflict upon one another, not just with our
actions, but also with our irresponsible words,"
he said.
"We're better than this," he said. "We must do
better."
On a frigid morning outside the White House,
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stood side
by side, each with their hands clasped, heads
bowed and eyes closed. On the steps of the U.S.
Capitol, congressional staff and other employees
did the same.
At the Supreme Court, the justices paused for a
moment of silence between the two cases they
were hearing Monday morning.
The president called for the country to come
together in prayer or reflection for those killed and
those fighting to recover.
"In the coming days, we're going to have a lot of
time to reflect," he said. "Right now the main
thing we're doing is to offer our thoughts and
prayers to those who've been impacted, making
sure we're joining together and pulling together
as a country."
Later Monday, a moment of silence was held at
the BCS national college football championship
between Oregon and Auburn in Glendale,
Arizona.
The shooting highlighted tensions that have been
running high between conservatives and liberals
in the United States, where activists and talk show
radio hosts have been employing increasingly
violent language in their criticisms of the Obama
administration.
In 2009, a protester was discovered carrying a
gun at a Giffords rally and there were signs the
congresswoman was becoming concerned
about the strident tone of the political debate in
the U.S.
The day before Giffords was wounded, she sent
an e-mail to a Republican friend discussing how
to "tone our rhetoric and partisanship down."
In the message, obtained by The Associated
Press, the Democratic congresswoman wrote to
Republican Kentucky Secretary of State Trey
Grayson to congratulate him on his new position
at Harvard University.
"After you get settled, I would love to talk about
what we can do to promote centrism and
moderation," she wrote.
Giffords, narrowly managed reelection to a third
term in 2010, in Arizona a conservative state
known for its loose gun control laws and which
made headlines last year after it passed a
draconian anti-immigration law allowing police to
stop those they suspected of being in the country
illegally.
Giffords was a vocal opponent of the law and a
supporter of Obama's healthcare law widely
opposed by conservatives.
Loughner is charged with one count of attempted
assassination of a member of Congress, two
counts of killing an employee of the federal
government and two counts of attempting to kill
a federal employee. Those are federal charges.
State prosecutors, meanwhile, are researching
whether they have to wait until after the federal
case is resolved, or if they can proceed with local
charges at the same time, an official said.
A Mass for all the victims was scheduled Tuesday
at St. Odelia's Parish in Tucson.
Among the dead was 9-year-old Christina Taylor
Green, who was born on the day of the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. Her funeral is Thursday.
It was unclear when funerals will be held for the
other victims, including one of Giffords' aides.
Giffords, 40, was shot in the head at close range.
She was in critical condition at Tucson's
University Medical Center. Two patients were
discharged Sunday night. Seven others remained
hospitalized.
Recent CT scans showed no further swelling in
Giffords' brain, but doctors were guarded.
"We're not out of the woods yet," her
neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Lemole said. "That
swelling can sometimes take three days or five
days to maximize. But every day that goes by
and we don't see an increase, we're slightly more
optimistic."
After Saturday's operation to temporarily remove
half of her skull, doctors over the past two days
had Giffords removed from her sedation and
then asked basic commands such as: "Show me
two fingers."
"When she did that, we were having a party in
there," said Dr. Peter Rhee, adding that Giffords
has also managed to give doctors a thumbs-up
and has been reaching for her breathing tube,
even while sedated.
"That's a purposeful movement. That's a great
thing. She's always grabbing for the tube," he
said.
Giffords' family is by her side and is receiving
constant updates from doctors. Her doctors have
declined to speculate on what specific disabilities
Giffords may face.
With few new details emerging at the hearing,
questions remained about what could have
motivated someone to arm himself with a pistol
and magazines carrying 33 bullets each, and rain
gunfire on a supermarket parking lot crowded
with men, women and children.
Comments from friends and former classmates
bolstered by Loughner's own Internet postings
have painted a picture of a social outcast with
almost indecipherable beliefs steeped in mistrust
and paranoia.
Source: Http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/11/arizona-suspect-face-death-rampage/
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