Joshua Lott for The New York TimesRep. Gabrielle Giffords at an event in Tucson in October.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09giffords.html?ref=global-home
Editor's Note: This was my initial reaction on saturday morning, January 8, 2011 to the horrific shooting in Tucson, Arizona that severely wounded Congresswoman Giffords, killed 6 other people including a 9 year old girl, and wounded 14. I leave my first impressions intact as I initially recorded them.
All,
I and many other people in this country have been saying for quite some time now that the demagogic anti-Latino rhetoric and vile, organized racism behind the endless number of public events where hundreds of white men came openly armed to the teeth at anti-Obama and Healthcare rallies throughout 2009-10 and the fierce anti-Latino and immigration reform rallies throughout the country and especially in the state of Arizona which passed a vicious racial profiling law aimed at Mexican Americans/Chicanos just six months ago was going to inevitably lead to the white supremacist madness we see in today's violent attack on government officials (BtW: It was just reported a couple minutes ago that the gunman--a whitemale in his mid-20s KILLED a federal judge at the same event in which he shot the Congresswoman and a small child, among others, was also shot by this maniac at the event and is now in critical conditionat a Tuscon hospital!). Meanwhile democratic Congresswoman Giffords is in very serious condition and is in surgery as we speak...
Make no mistake folks: This shooting is tied to a huge national network of racist/white supremacist anti-immigrant organizations and groups who in turn have an intricate web of formal and informal connections to various Tea party and other far right wing organizations. Mark my words: The only "good news" in this entire horrific tragedy is that the white man who did the shooting is still alive (and we all better pray he "accidently" doesn't die or is killed in any coverup attempt) and is thus going to be subjected to a massive thorough investigation of this heinous crime--(OMG!! AS I'M WRITING THIS THE CHILD WHO WAS SHOT JUST DIED!!)...I can't go on for the moment. I'm going back to the TV right now for further updated news reports...Will continue later today...
Kofi
Congresswoman Giffords Shot in Tucson
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
January 8, 2011
New York Times
Gabrielle Giffords, a congresswoman from Arizona, was shot in the head on Saturday at a public event held at a grocery store in Tucson, her spokesman, C. J. Karamargin, said. Others at the event, including members of her staff, were among the injured.
Her condition was unknown. She was taken to University Medical Center in Tucson, the trauma center for the area, about 10 miles away. Even though NPR and CNN reported that she had been killed, Darci Slater, a hospital spokeswoman, said that Ms. Giffords was in surgery.
CNN quoted a public information officer for the sheriff’s office as saying that 12 people had been injured in all and that the shooting had occurred around 10 a.m. local time.
Dr. Steven Rayle, a former emergency room doctor who now works in a hospice, said that he had witnessed the shootings. He said the congresswoman was standing behind a table outside the Safeway greeting passersby when the gunman approached her from behind, held a gun about a foot from her head and began firing.
. “He must have got off 20 rounds,” he said. Ms. Giffords slumped to the ground and staff members immediately rushed to her aid, Dr. Rayle said.
Dr. Rayle said he performed CPR on some of the victims. He said one of the victims was a young child and appeared to be in critical condition with a gunshot wound.
He said that one of the staffers tackled the gunman and that he and others helped detain the suspect. The doctor described the gunman as a white male in his mid-20s with short hair and “dressed in a shabby manner.”
An employee at a nearby store told CNN that he heard a steady stream of gun fire that appeared sustained and “random.” Shortly after, emergency vehicles filled the parking lot around the grocery story and cordoned off the area.
The shooting occurred at a Safeway supermarket in northwest Tucson as Ms. Giffords hosted an event, called “Congress on Your Corner, to allow members of the 8th Congressional District to meet her individually. She has held several events since first taking office in January 2007. At one such event in 2009, a protester was removed by police when his pistol fell on the supermarket floor.
Last March, her Tucson office was vandalized a few hours after the House vote overhauling the nation’s health care system, the authorities said. Earlier events in Tucson, Oro Valley, Green Valley, Sierra Vista, and Douglas had attracted between 75 and 150 people, according to a statement announcing the event. This was her first event since her re-election to a third term in November.
Ms. Giffords, 40, was interviewed on Fox news on Friday to talk about a bill to cut to congressional salaries by 5 percent.
She married Cmdr. Mark E. Kelly, 46, a NASA astronaut and Navy pilot from New Jersey, in December 2007 at a wedding attended by Robert B. Reich, the former Labor secretary.
Marc Lacey contributed reporting from Tucson.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: January 8, 2011
An earlier version of this article misstated Gabrielle Giffords's condition. While several news reports had said she had died on the scene, a hospital spokeswoman said that the congresswoman was undergoing surgery.
Editor's Note: This was my initial reaction on saturday morning, January 8, 2011 to the horrific shooting in Tucson, Arizona that severely wounded Congresswoman Giffords, killed 6 other people including a 9 year old girl, and wounded 14. I leave my first impressions intact as I initially recorded them.
All,
I and many other people in this country have been saying for quite some time now that the demagogic anti-Latino rhetoric and vile, organized racism behind the endless number of public events where hundreds of white men came openly armed to the teeth at anti-Obama and Healthcare rallies throughout 2009-10 and the fierce anti-Latino and immigration reform rallies throughout the country and especially in the state of Arizona which passed a vicious racial profiling law aimed at Mexican Americans/Chicanos just six months ago was going to inevitably lead to the white supremacist madness we see in today's violent attack on government officials (BtW: It was just reported a couple minutes ago that the gunman--a whitemale in his mid-20s KILLED a federal judge at the same event in which he shot the Congresswoman and a small child, among others, was also shot by this maniac at the event and is now in critical conditionat a Tuscon hospital!). Meanwhile democratic Congresswoman Giffords is in very serious condition and is in surgery as we speak...
Make no mistake folks: This shooting is tied to a huge national network of racist/white supremacist anti-immigrant organizations and groups who in turn have an intricate web of formal and informal connections to various Tea party and other far right wing organizations. Mark my words: The only "good news" in this entire horrific tragedy is that the white man who did the shooting is still alive (and we all better pray he "accidently" doesn't die or is killed in any coverup attempt) and is thus going to be subjected to a massive thorough investigation of this heinous crime--(OMG!! AS I'M WRITING THIS THE CHILD WHO WAS SHOT JUST DIED!!)...I can't go on for the moment. I'm going back to the TV right now for further updated news reports...Will continue later today...
Kofi
Congresswoman Giffords Shot in Tucson
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
January 8, 2011
New York Times
Gabrielle Giffords, a congresswoman from Arizona, was shot in the head on Saturday at a public event held at a grocery store in Tucson, her spokesman, C. J. Karamargin, said. Others at the event, including members of her staff, were among the injured.
Her condition was unknown. She was taken to University Medical Center in Tucson, the trauma center for the area, about 10 miles away. Even though NPR and CNN reported that she had been killed, Darci Slater, a hospital spokeswoman, said that Ms. Giffords was in surgery.
CNN quoted a public information officer for the sheriff’s office as saying that 12 people had been injured in all and that the shooting had occurred around 10 a.m. local time.
Dr. Steven Rayle, a former emergency room doctor who now works in a hospice, said that he had witnessed the shootings. He said the congresswoman was standing behind a table outside the Safeway greeting passersby when the gunman approached her from behind, held a gun about a foot from her head and began firing.
. “He must have got off 20 rounds,” he said. Ms. Giffords slumped to the ground and staff members immediately rushed to her aid, Dr. Rayle said.
Dr. Rayle said he performed CPR on some of the victims. He said one of the victims was a young child and appeared to be in critical condition with a gunshot wound.
He said that one of the staffers tackled the gunman and that he and others helped detain the suspect. The doctor described the gunman as a white male in his mid-20s with short hair and “dressed in a shabby manner.”
An employee at a nearby store told CNN that he heard a steady stream of gun fire that appeared sustained and “random.” Shortly after, emergency vehicles filled the parking lot around the grocery story and cordoned off the area.
The shooting occurred at a Safeway supermarket in northwest Tucson as Ms. Giffords hosted an event, called “Congress on Your Corner, to allow members of the 8th Congressional District to meet her individually. She has held several events since first taking office in January 2007. At one such event in 2009, a protester was removed by police when his pistol fell on the supermarket floor.
Last March, her Tucson office was vandalized a few hours after the House vote overhauling the nation’s health care system, the authorities said. Earlier events in Tucson, Oro Valley, Green Valley, Sierra Vista, and Douglas had attracted between 75 and 150 people, according to a statement announcing the event. This was her first event since her re-election to a third term in November.
Ms. Giffords, 40, was interviewed on Fox news on Friday to talk about a bill to cut to congressional salaries by 5 percent.
She married Cmdr. Mark E. Kelly, 46, a NASA astronaut and Navy pilot from New Jersey, in December 2007 at a wedding attended by Robert B. Reich, the former Labor secretary.
Marc Lacey contributed reporting from Tucson.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: January 8, 2011
An earlier version of this article misstated Gabrielle Giffords's condition. While several news reports had said she had died on the scene, a hospital spokeswoman said that the congresswoman was undergoing surgery.
