Free Republic

Federal Judge John Roll was killed in Tucson trying to save another man’s life. As soon as madman Jared Lee Loughner finished his attempt to murder Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, he turned his gun on the people to his left, then the people to his right. Recently released video shows his first target to the right was Ron Barber, Gifford’s district director, who was standing next to Justice John Roll. Barber was shot in the arm. Judge Roll then pushed him down and, shielding Barber with his own body, steered him to shelter under a nearby table. While under the table,...

Jazz already wrote the definitive take on the grisly execution-style shooting of two New York City police officers and the role that irresponsible commentary from elected leaders – particularly Mayor Bill de Blasio – might have played in that attack. Jazz is right to question the part that the mayor’s self-indulgent and unhelpful rhetoric might have played in this incident. Hours after a Staten Island grand jury’s decision to issue no-bill for the death of Eric Garner, de Blasio went on an ill-advised tear in which he impeached the NYPD based solely on his prejudices. “That should never have to...

The suspect in a shooting that left a U.S. congresswoman wounded pleaded guilty Tuesday to going on the rampage that killed six other people. The plea spares Jared Lee Loughner the death penalty in an attack that gained worldwide attention. The plea came soon after a federal judge had found that months of forcibly medicating Loughner to treat his schizophrenia had made the 23-year-old college dropout competent to understand the gravity of the charges against him and assist in his defense. At one point, Judge Larry A. Burns asked Loughner if he understood the charges against him and what the...

Jared Loughner, the young Tucson man accused of shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killing six people, is set to plead guilty Tuesday, an official familiar with the case said Saturday. A psychologist appointed by the court is expected to say at the hearing that he is competent to plead guilty, the official said. A previously scheduled status hearing has been changed to a change-of-plea hearing. In February, the psychologist said Mr. Loughner, a diagnosed schizophrenic, remained incompetent to stand trial. But she said at the time that the defendant was making progress toward competency, according to federal Judge Larry A....

TUCSON, AZ (CBS5/AP) - It's a race for Congress that the entire nation has been watching, and we now know who will fill Gabrielle Gifford's House seat. Ron Barber, who worked as Giffords' aid and was injured in the Tucson shooting, is the winner of the District 8 race. He has about 52 percent of the votes; 86 percent of precincts have turned in their results. This race determines who will be representing Tucson for the next six months in Washington, DC. Right now, Barber has more than a 7 percent lead over Jesse Kelly, who ran against Giffords in...

The race, which has been under way since April, is between Republican nominee Jesse Kelly, a former Marine who ran against Giffords in 2010, and Ron Barber, Giffords’ former district director. Barber himself was injured in the shooting outside the Safeway grocery store on Jan. 8, 2011. He was shot in the leg and the cheek. Giffords has not been very present in Barber’s campaign. She was featured on a mailer paid for by the Democratic Party of Arizona, and she will be campaigning for the candidate this weekend. However, regardless of Giffords level of involvement, the race was never...

An elderly, former Marine who lost his wife of 54 years in the Tucson mass shootings expressed his anger at fellow victim and Congresswoman Gabbie Giffords. George Morris, 77, was shot in the leg and back in the attack just over a year ago as he tried to protect his wife from the gunman. Dorothy Morris, 76, was killed after the couple had gone to the Safeway supermarket to quiz Ms Giffords' political opinions. Mr Morris, who describes himself as 'ultra-conservative', even refused a visit from President Obama while he recovered in hospital following the shootings in Arizona. The couple...

(Phoenix, AZ) -- A judge in Arizona rules that mental exams of accused Tuscon shooter Jared Loughner should not be videotaped.  Loughner, 22, is accused of a mass shooting in which he allegedly tried to assassinate U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona. According to the New York Post, Loughner's lawyers filed a motion requesting Federal District Court Judge Larry Burns to order hospital officials at Springfield's Federal Medical Center to capture all clinical proceedings of Loughner's health. That was denied Thursday. The judge says there's no basis to question the impartiality of staff at FedMed.

Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner was declared unfit to stand trial last month, a ruling that put government prosecutors in a position of having to try to restore Loughner to a mental state that would allow him to defend himself in court. Prison officials is Missouri, where Loughner currently is undergoing a mental evaluation, decided earlier this month to try to medicate Loughner against his will with anti-psychotic drugs. But lawyers representing Loughner have asked a federal judge to block prison officials from forcibly medicating Loughner, WSJ reports. U.S. District Judge Larry Burns is considering the issue at a hearing...

HOUSTON (AP) -- An aide to wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords says the Arizona congresswoman could be released from her rehabilitation hospital in Houston as early as this month. Chief of Staff Pia Carusone tells The Associated Press that the congresswoman may leave TIRR Memorial Hermann by the end of this month or early July. However, there is no set date for Giffords' release. Her husband astronaut Mark Kelly has said she would continue outpatient therapy in Houston upon her release.

Blaming the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others that took place on January 8, 2010, Sheriff Clarence Dupnick caused an uproar in Tucson when he said that the state was a mecca of prejudice and bigotry.

There is a storm brewing over a recently surfaced segment of The Glenn Beck Show from June of 2010. In the video, while he is talking about impeding people with strong convictions, Beck says, “you are going to have to shoot them in the head.” The clip was quickly posted on DailyKos.com along with a description of Beck’s statement. Jed Lewison, the author of the post, provides a long list of names that Beck has put up on his chalkboard, and then goes on to claim that Beck has called for their death: “The only way to stop their plot,...

That’s the president’s best Approval Index rating since February 1, 2010, nearly a full year ago. Strong Disapproval among Republicans is down to 55%. Among all voters, Strong Disapproval of the president has been consistently lower since mid-December… Overall, 52% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president’s performance. That’s his highest level of total approval in fifteen months, since October 2009. The president earns approval from 84% of Democrats and 48% of unaffiliated voters. Among all voters, 47% disapprove.

Yesterday provided a moment of unintentional hilarity as CNN, birthplace of "Crossfire,"the show that invented political TV verbal combat, satirized itself in ways Saturday Night Live could only dream of, on a par with the best of The Onion: CNN's JOHN KING: "We were having a discussion about the Chicago mayoral race. My friend Andy Shaw used the term 'in the crosshairs' in talking about the candidates. We're trying, we're trying to get away from that language. Andy is a good friend, he's covered politics for a long time, but we're trying to get away from that kind of language."...

In the past week, the focus of the media narrative has been centered upon language.In the aftermath of the Arizona shootings, the media has cleverly diverted attention away from discussing depictions of violence within the culture and guided the debate toward conservative rhetoric. Something that has become apparent is that the same people who dismiss conservative speech as promoting fear and suspicion have gotten into the paranoia game themselves. Along with serving as an excuse to distract from the childish premise that Sarah Palin was to blame for the Arizona shootings, the left-wing media have crafted an aimless conspiracy around...

Keith Olbermann continued to make a big deal out of Sarah Palin’s harmless—even clichéd—target map for Congressional districts, even as he protested that he “never” implied it was the cause for the shooting. So, then, it’s a Big Deal… why? But it’s especially rich that Keith would think the map is a big deal, when he used language about Sarah Palin that would be used as justification for the President or Congress to declare war, or even authorize an assassination.OLBERMANN: [to Palin] Madam, you are a clear and present danger to the safety and security of this nation.

On January 8, 2011, in Tucson, Arizona, a madman named Jared Loughner murdered 6 people, shot a Congresswoman in the head, and injured another 14. He was tackled and subdued by heroes who had been in the middle of the horror. In the hours after the rampage, little was known about Loughner. It was in this time that America was introduced to Clarence Dupnik, the Pima County Sheriff. In the absence of facts, Dupnik quickly and loudly began to blame the right and talk radio for the tragedy in Tucson. As facts slowly came in, it was learned that Loughner...

(Investigative team notes: Heavy reliance on the contributions of @mikesus, @themick1962, @bobbi85710, @JoAnneMoretti, @arlenearmy, all of whom contributed significant pieces of the trail of internet bread crumbs to bring this story to light.) The media frenzy over the shooting on January 8, 2011, in Arizona by Jared Lee Loughner of nearly two dozen people, including the wounding of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and the assassination of U.S. District Judge John Roll refuses to die down. The act was clearly that of a young man with a deranged mind. It took only minutes before the acts were blamed on  Tea Party, veterans, and eventually...

This new CNN poll on the Tucson mass shooting seems like bad news for Sarah Palin: QUESTION: Overall, how much do you blame each of the following for the shooting in Arizona -- a great deal, a moderate amount, not much, or not at all? The laws under which guns are bought and sold in this country Great deal 30% ... Moderate amount 22% ... Not much 14% ... Not at all 33% The use of harsh rhetoric and violent metaphors by politicians and commentators Great deal 25% ... Moderate amount 23% ... Not much 17% ... Not at all...

A wounded survivor of the Tucson shooting that critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is blaming Sarah Palin, House Speaker John Boehner, Fox TV host Glenn Beck, and former Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle for the tragedy. “It looks like Palin, Beck, Sharron Angle and the rest got their first target,” Eric Fuller said in an interview with Democracy NOW. “Their wish for Second Amendment activism has been fulfilled — senseless hatred leading to murder, lunatic fringe anarchism, subscribed to by John Boehner, mainstream rebels with vengeance for all, even 9-year-old girls,” he added, referring to the death of Christina...