Giffords' response stirs hope

The Congresswoman shot in the head when a gunman opened fire at a political gathering in Tucson was said to be showing remarkable signs of life and mental activity yesterday, as police charged a man in a case that has shocked the nation.

Doctors said Gabrielle Giffords had responded to simple commands after surgery to treat a bullet wound to the brain she suffered when her would-be killer opened fire at a supermarket event on Sunday, killing six people.

The chief suspect in the case, Jared Lee Loughner, 22, was yesterday charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempting to kill a member of Congress and two other counts of attempted murder. He was due to appear in court in Phoenix today.

Police have still not determined Loughner's alleged motive, which seems no clearer from the rambling manifesto he posted on social networking sites.

Documents retrieved from his home, including a letter from Giffords, suggest he had at least a passing acquaintance with her.

Found in a safe with the letter was an envelope marked "I planned ahead", "My assassination" and "Giffords" written by hand, as well as what appeared to be Loughner's signature, according to court documents.

FBI director Robert Mueller arrived in Tucson yesterday to lead an investigation into the attack, whose victims included a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green who, according to her parents, was drawn to politics because she was born on September 11, 2001.

Five others were in a serious condition and one more left hospital yesterday. A total of 14 people were hurt.

Giffords, a Democrat, won re-election in the November midterm elections by just 4000 votes, after facing an ultra-conservative opponent with Tea Party backing, who posed with firearms in his campaign literature. Among those who vigorously advocated that she be voted out of office was former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, whose Facebook account once featured a map with bullseye symbols over the constituencies of Giffords and other Democrats.

Victims of the rampage include an aide to Giffords, identified as 30-year-old Gabe Zimmerman, as well as federal judge John Roll.

The attack left Americans wondering if they were witnessing the start of a new period of political violence of a kind not seen since the assassinations of the 1960s triggered by passions associated with civil rights and Vietnam. At a candelit vigil outside Giffords' office, well-wishers carried placards with slogans such as "hate speech equals murder", calling for an end to inflammatory rhetoric.

For shocked members of Congress, the scale of the tragedy was too great to be easily digested. Flags were ordered at half-mast to mourn Zimmerman. All legislative activity on Capitol Hill, where Republicans only last week took control of the House, was postponed.

Senior US Senator Richard Durbin echoed others last night in decrying "toxic rhetoric" which might, he said, lead individuals like the man in custody to believe violence was an acceptable response. He did not overtly link the trend to the shootings, but did mention "Don't retreat, reload", paraphrasing the controversial slogan associated with Palin.

Doctors at a large hospital next to Tucson's University of Arizona said Giffords had had emergency surgery after a bullet passed through the left side of her brain from back to front. It included a procedure to temporarily remove a large section of skull to help combat swelling of the brain, which remains the biggest threat to her long-term survival.

Giffords had not yet spoken and was being moved in and out of an induced coma. But the hospital drew encouragement from her ability to respond to simple commands.

- INDEPENDENT