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US President Barack Obama speaks at memorial for Arizona shooting victims

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

United States
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Candlelit vigil in Union Square on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 for the victims of the Tucson shooting.
Image: Jens Schott Knudsen.

United States President Barack Obama spoke at a memorial in Tucson, Arizona Wednesday night, in the wake of last Saturday's mass shooting. Earlier in the day, Obama visited five people injured in the attack, including Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic Congresswoman from Arizona.

Obama spoke to almost 14,000 people in the University of Arizona's McKale Center, as well as 13,000 others outside. During a 33-minute-long speech, he attempted to begin the "healing process," urging the nation "to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds." He recognized the victims of the incident as well as those who helped the wounded immediately after the shooting.

Jared Lee Loughner, aged 22, is accused of opening fire on a "Congress on Your Corner" event on January 8, killing six people and injuring thirteen others. The incident has sparked a fiery political debate on whether intense political campaigns could incite violence.

During his speech, Obama said of Giffords' condition, "Gabby opened her eyes so I can tell you know she knows we are here, she knows that we love her and she knows that we are rooting for her through what will undoubtedly be a difficult journey." Peter Rhee, a trauma surgeon at Tuscon's University Medical Center, said Giffords is making progress and is able to move more.


Sources

  • Philip Rucker, Anne E. Kornblut and Dana Hedgpeth. Tucson shootings: Let us heal together, Obama says at memorial event — The Washington Post, January 12, 2011
  • CNN Wire Staff. Obama headlines memorial for victims of Saturday's shooting — CNN, January 12, 2011
  • Jeff Mason and Tim Gaynor. Obama leads Arizona memorial service — Reuters, January 12, 2011


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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
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