In Washington today, federal charges were filed against Jared Lee Loughner stemming from Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson. Meanwhile, members of Congress and their staffs gathered on the steps of the Capitol and observed a moment of silence in tribute to their wounded colleague, Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Business has been cancelled for the rest of this week. FBI Director Robert Mueller has taken charge of the investigation of Saturday's shooting. Yesterday, he talked about the increased availability of what he called inciteful speech, including hate speech. He said possible links to extremist groups would be a continuing focus. We discuss what led to the shooting rampage that killed six people, including US District Court Judge John Roll and 9-year old girl, Did vitriolic rhetoric play a role? Is a tragedy being used to make political points?
Violence, Madness and Politics in Arizona
Credits
Guests:
- Glenn Thrush - New York Times - @GlennThrush
- Mark Potok - Editor, Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report
- Jennifer Rubin - Washington Post - @JRubinBlogger
- Dan Gerstein - former Communications Director, Senator Joe Lieberman