WASHINGTON — The shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and others at a neighborhood meeting in Arizona on Saturday set off what is likely to be a wrenching debate over anger and violence in American politics.
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While the exact motivations of the suspect in the shootings remained unclear, an Internet site tied to the man, Jared Loughner, contained antigovernment ramblings. And regardless of what led to the episode, it quickly focused attention on the degree to which inflammatory language, threats and implicit instigations to violence have become a steady undercurrent in the nation’s political culture.
In the hours immediately after the shooting of Ms. Giffords, a Democrat, and others in a supermarket parking lot in Tucson, top Republicans from Speaker John A. Boehner to Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona quickly condemned the violence.
“An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement. “Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society.”
Even the Pima County sheriff, Clarence W. Dupnik, felt moved to say in an evening news conference that this was no longer the country “that most of us grew up in,” and he called for the nation to do some “soul-searching.”
The House was set to vote Wednesday on the new Republican majority’s proposal to repeal the health care law that had energized their supporters and ignited fierce opposition from the Tea Party movement. Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the new majority leader, said Saturday that the vote and other planned legislative activity would be postponed, “so that we can take whatever action may be necessary in light on today’s tragedy.”
The legislation stirred strong feelings that flared at angry town hall meetings held by many Democratic lawmakers during the summer of 2007. And there has been a broader anger and suspicion rising about the government, its finances and its goals, with the discourse partially fueled by talk shows and Internet sites.
Tea Party activists also condemned the shooting. Judson Phillips, the founder of Tea Party Nation, a social networking site for Tea Party activists, noted on his Web site that Ms. Giffords is “a liberal,” but added, “that does not matter now. No one should be a victim of violence because of their political beliefs.”
But other groups said it was hard to separate what had happened from the heated nature of the debate that has swirled around President Obama and Democratic policies of the past two years.
“It is fair to say — in today’s political climate, and given today’s political rhetoric — that many have contributed to the building levels of vitriol in our political discourse that have surely contributed to the atmosphere in which this event transpired,” said a statement issued Saturday by the leaders of the National Jewish Democratic Council. Ms. Giffords is the first Jewish House member from her state.
Mr. Obama made a brief appearance at the White House, calling the shooting an “unspeakable act” and promising to “get to the bottom of this.”
During last spring’s health care votes, the tone against some lawmakers was ratcheted up again, with protesters gathered outside the House hurling insults and slurs at some lawmakers as they went to vote on the measure. The offices of some Democrats, including that of Ms. Giffords in Tucson, were vandalized.
Ms. Giffords was also among a group of embattled Democratic House candidates who were featured on the Web site of Sarah Palin’s political action committee with cross hairs over their districts, a fact that disturbed Ms. Giffords at the time.
“We’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list,” Ms. Giffords said last March. “But the thing is the way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they’ve got to realize there’s consequences to that.”
The image with the gun sights is no longer on the Web site of Ms. Palin, who posted a statement saying “my sincere condolences are offered to the family of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today’s tragic shooting in Arizona. On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice.”
Democrats have also pointed out cases where Republican candidates seemed to raise the prospect of armed revolt if Washington did not change its ways.
But many Republicans have noted that they too are subject to regular threats and abuse from the public and, during the health care fight, some suggested Democrats were trying to cut off responsible political opposition and paint themselves as victims.
Tea Party activists in Tucson had disagreed sharply with Ms. Giffords, particularly as the health care debate unfolded, but she ended up backing the measure despite the political risks. They strongly supported her opponent, Jesse Kelly, in the November election, and staged several protests outside her office.
DeAnn Hatch, a co-founder of the Tucson Tea Party, said her group had never staged any rallies or protests against the congresswoman elsewhere, and that she did not believe there were any Tea Party protesters at the event where Ms. Giffords was shot Saturday.
“I want to strongly, strongly say we absolutely do not advocate violence,” she said. “This is just a tragedy to no end.”
Trent Humphries, another co-founder of the local Tea Party, said his group has been subjected to threats and has taken to inviting several police officers to their meetings as a result. “I’ve received threats, and I know others have,” he said. “And we understand there are certain people just looking for a crowd.”
But other Tea Party activists said it would be hard to separate the shooting in Tucson from the current ideological clash.
“At a time like this, it is terrible that we do have to think about politics, but no matter what the shooter’s motivations were, the left is going to blame this on the Tea Party movement,” Mr. Phillips said on his Web site.
“While we need to take a moment to extend our sympathies to the families of those who died, we cannot allow the hard left to do what it tried to do in 1995 after the Oklahoma City bombing,” he wrote. “Within the entire political spectrum, there are extremists, both on the left and the right. Violence of this nature should be decried by everyone and not used for political gain.”
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