The shooting of Arizona’s Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and the arrest of former Democratic legislative candidate Will Hammerquist, are of both considerable interest, and situations in which speculation is far from helpful.
Giffords (who is expected to live). Assassinations and attempted assassinations of elected officials in the United States are rare and almost always involve a lone gunman. So are other acts of violence against public officials. Speakers get heckled and shouted down, but that kind of rowdiness doesn’t qualify as violence in my experience. It’s safer out there than a lot of people think. I hope this incident isn’t used as an excuse for a security crackdown.
Hammerquist. According to KPAX TV, Hammerquist was arrested late Thursday, 6 January, booked for “partner family member assault,” a misdemeanor, and released from jail the next morning. This will damage his political career even if he’s completely exonerated. In the meantime, he’s entitled — as are we all — to the presumption of innocence, representation by legal counsel, and a fair trial. And all would do well to remember that this kind of case is well into the “he said, she said” twilight zone where sorting out the truth is especially difficult.