Posted on 01/10/2011 11:04:16 PM PST by thecodont
The tragic shooting in Tucson Saturday morning took the life of six people, among them John McCarthy Roll, the chief judge of the District of Arizona.
Judge Roll was 63. Click here for my and Nathan Koppels story on Roll in the WSJ; here for the NYTs article; here for the LATs; here for the Arizona Republics.
Roll was known within the Tucson legal community as a conservative and even-handed jurist who, in recent years had worked hard to increase funding for an overstretched Arizona federal bench.
He was a life-long Republican and I dont think he would have objected to hearing anyone call him conservative, said Ninth Circuit judge Michael Daly Hawkins, who had known Judge Roll for over 40 years. But he was always fair-minded and absolutely attentive to everyone who appeared in his courtroom.
Roll had attended the event Saturday in Tucson to thank Rep. Gabrielle Giffords for signing a letter to Judge Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the Ninth Circuit, to help convince the court to declare his federal judicial district a judicial emergency due to the high number of immigration cases that were being heard in that district, according to Judge Hawkins. A judicial emergency would put certain new measures in place, such as allowing judges to delay a trial because there were not enough bodies to hear the cases.
Judge Roll was appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, and had served as chief judge of the District of Arizona since 2006.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704030704576070620524501318.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLETopStories
New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/09judge.html?_r=2&hp
Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0109-judge-roll-killed-20110109,0,4727633.story
Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/09/20110109john-roll-gabrielle-giffords-arizona-shooting.html
Do we have any confidence that Roll was not the target of this loon? Last time I recall an attack on a political event like this was the shooting of George Wallace also by a “loon”. But the shots were confined to Wallace not shooting up an entire crowd.
The “loon” who shot Wallace was also portrayed as mentally ill though he had followed both Wallace and Nixon around the country prior to the attack.
We cannot assume ANYTHING the media tries to tell us is true.
That’s the key. If Giffords was the only target, he wouldn’t have started randomly pumping ammo into the crowd. He wanted attention, because leftist mommy and daddy “ignored” him as a child.
unlikely, unless the shooter had some way of knowing Roll would be there. The stories I read indicate his attendance was a spur of the moment thing. None of Loughner’s writings that have been released so far mention the judge. Giffords seems to have been the target. The others had the misfortune of being there when this nut decided to go off.
“He was a life-long Republican and I dont think he would have objected to hearing anyone call him conservative,”
Is the lamestream media blaming Palin for him, too?
I’ve heard next to nothing about him being DEAD but 24/7 about her being shot and surviving.
I’m very glad she did but what about *him*?
Where’s the liberal outrage over a DEAD Republican shot by a liberal loon?
[and why do I have a nauseating feeling that they’re really *happy* about it? didn’t he have like a gazillion death threats against him? what if she was just a diversion from the *real* target?]
“The stories I read indicate his attendance was a spur of the moment thing”
What if psycho-boy had been following him and just by dumb luck killed him *there* instead of somewhere else, that day?
Re: “Wheres the liberal outrage over a DEAD Republican shot by a liberal loon?”
You got that right!
I, too, was wondering Why the lamebrain media didn’t say anything about the judge being killed. Now I understand - he was a Republican!
But How Many people actually Know that Giffords has a 100% NARAL Rating? She is avidly Pro-death.
I just pray that Giffords and her family will turn to prolife because of this life-threatening incident - but even though I believe in miracles - THAT would be a Huge one!
News About Her Record:
They have mentioned Judge Roll every single day. Where have you guys been?
I have been wondering about Judge Roll a good bit. Who is he, what does his death mean to the political climate?
Also, from yahoo today:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110110/ts_yblog_theticket/giffords-tragedy-could-be-a-defining-moment-for-palin
this article, and the link to the facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/dont-get-demoralized-get-organized-take-back-the-20/373854973434
make me start thinking in terms of how much mileage could be anticipated in something like this, and whether one person rather than another could be foreseen to get more mileage.
I have wondered about the people listed as being in Palin’s sights (from facebook page): Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-1), Harry E. Mitchell (AZ-5), Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8), John Salazar (CO-3), Betsy Markey (CO-4). Allen Boyd (FL-2), Suzanne M. Kosmas (FL-24), Baron P. Hill (IN-9), Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL), Charlie Wilson (OH-6), John Boccieri (OH-16), Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3), Christopher Carney (PA-10), John M. Spratt, Jr. (SC-5), Tom Perriello (VA-5), Alan B. Mollohan (WV-1), and Nick J. Rahall II (WV-3).
If there were a conspiracy - why Giffords and not one of the others listed? Who is most expendable? I note that Giffords herself mentioned the flap (from the article):
“Giffords herself had previously raised concerns about Palin’s map: ‘The way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have got to realize there are consequences to that action.’ “ Which makes her being targeted a bonus for those who stand to gain the most.
But that would be too overboard, unless one considers the notion that not all conspirators are flesh and blood, I hope.
Apparently not the case after all. After further investigation it has been determined Judge Roll was present with the intention of further follow-up on his caseload emergency status issue.
Thus was his murder "while in the performance of his official duties," as described in the five count indictment issued by federal prosecutors.
Look at the source. Was it Dupnik who said that it was a spur of the moment attendance? Is Dupnik a reliable source?
The judge had entered a preliminary judgment against the O admin.
He was shaking the hand of Giffords as they were shot.
Coincidence? I doubt it.
He may have been followed, not to mention that he had been asked to be there prior to the event. His secirity detail had just been pulled and he was killed just 72 hours after the preliminary judgment against the O admin.
You see, nothing is ever as it seems in high stakes politics.
They “mention” Roll but obsess over Giffords and the alleged ‘Tea Party Connection’.
Big difference, especially if you’re trying to plant a meme that demonizes conservatives.
I’m starting to wonder if *she* was ‘collateral damage’.
There’s definitely a method to his seeming madness, IMO.
Another thing that has bothered me is the number of shots fired and the number of people hit. Twenty hit seems like a hell of a lot. Was this guy a crack shot not to miss? Firearm experts might answer this: is this Glock (if it was a Glock) capable of firing twenty shots from one clip? Can someone post a picture of one with a clip?
This is also reminiscent of Jack Ruby stalking Oswald after the JFK killing and his showing up at the time Oswald was being transferred just by “dumb luck” if you believe the official reports. Or Sirhan being in the kitchen just in the nick of time to kill RFK.
Very interesting.
He did, but not from lefties-- the death threats all came from a decision of his permitting illegal aliens to sue a rancher for false imprisonment. (There were also some very heated threads on FR about that case at the time.)
IMO, the judge was the actual target. It will be interesting to see who replaces him and what the final judgment will be.
Shame people get away with ths stuff.
I know I am conspiracy minded but this started to stink instantly and then I watch the media - ALL the media - shamelessly start to make the same mindless comments and ignore the same doubts and questions.
It is bad when you cannot believe a thing they say.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.