Update (12.50PM): Early reports that Giffords was killed are, very fortunately, wrong; she is out of surgery and is recovering in the ICU.
A suspect in his late teens/early twenties is in custody. This is not just an assassination, it is terrorism. More than that, because Giffords is a Democrat, we have to assume the terrorist act was right-wing and politically motivated. Would be interesting to find out who the shooter says prompted him to take action - Beck? Hannity? Limbaugh? In the political environment we're in right now, I don't think we can assume the shooter was just a lone nut.
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Congresswoman Gabriele Giffords (D-AZ) has just been shot - condition unclear. Motive unclear, but it's not the first time she's had problems in her district:
The shooting occurred at a Safeway supermarket in northwest Tuscon as Ms. Giffords hosted an event, called “Congress on Your Corner," to allow members of the 8th Congressional District to meet her individually. . . . 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.
Best wishes to Ms. Giffords. Republicans should be standing up right now loudly protesting this latest in an apparent string of homegrown terrorist actions.
Update: Sarah Palin's website until recently had a map, with 20 Congressmembers' names under a map of the US, with rifle scope target sites for each, including Giffords. More on Palin targeting Giffords.
Update: Giffords' previous opponent, Jesse Kelly, was a bit of a gun nut. This is what "Second Amendment remedies" looks like, folks.
Update (1:30PM): Federal Judge John Roll, also killed in today's shooting, was previously a target of the Right wing.
Update (1:43PM): Homegrown AZ anti-government nutjobbery.
Update (1:52PM): KGUN (Tucson AZ) videos of the scene.
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