Laura Segall / Reuters
Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, center, who suffered a head wound in the Tuscon shooting, smiles after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at a memorial service marking the anniversary of the shooting, at the University of Arizona campus, Jan. 8. Bells tolled, girls in white dresses danced and clergymen offered up prayers in Tucson one year after a shooting spree that left six people dead and 13 others wounded, among them Giffords.
AP reports:
The crowd chanted: "Gabby, Gabby."
She limped to the podium, and husband Mark Kelly helped lift her left hand over her heart. After a year in which she has struggled to speak, Giffords recited the pledge with the audience, head held high and a smile on her face as she punched each word.
Full story: Arizona remembers the day with bells, tears
Jonathan Gibby / Getty Images
A memorial rests on a highway on Jan. 8 for the six people that lost their lives in a deadly shooting last year across from the La Toscana Village Safeway in Tucson, Ariz. Memorial services will be held throughout the day in Tucson to commemorate the one year anniversary of a shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded more than a dozen including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ).
AP reports:
The 41-year-old Giffords has spent the last year in Houston undergoing intensive physical and speech therapy. Doctors and family have called her recovery miraculous after the Jan. 8 shooting; she is able to walk and talk, vote in Congress and gave a televised interview to ABC's Diane Sawyer in May. But doctors have said it would take many months to determine the lasting effects of her brain injury. The three-term congresswoman has four months to decide whether to seek re-election.
"She's making a lot of progress. She's doing great," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz, a close friend, said. "She still has a long way to go."
Full story: Giffords, Tucson mark deadly rampage anniversary
John Moore / Getty Images
Border Patrol agents salute during a memorial service for slain comrade Brian Terry on Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Arizona. Agent Terry was killed during a Dec. 14 shootout with suspected bandits near the U.S.-Mexico Border. Thousands of Border Patrol agents and fellow law enforcement officers from across Arizona turned out for the memorial service held at Kino baseball stadium in Tucson. With U.S. agents tracking drug smugglers and illegal immigrants all along the border, the region is one of the most militarized areas of the United States.
It was smart of John Moore to photograph the Border Patrol agents behind a fence.
Reuters reports:
TUCSON, ARIZONA -- Agent Brian A. Terry, 40, who was shot dead in a firefight with a suspected "rip crew" -- bandits who rob illegal immigrants and drug smugglers -- in mountainous canyon lands a few miles northwest of the border city of Nogales on December 14. Four men were arrested following Terry's death, although none have been charged with his murder."He went out every day knowing that what he was doing was benefiting not him, but others," Kurt R. Martin, a friend of the fallen agent told a crowd of around 3,000 people gathered in the outdoor Kino Stadium in Tucson.
Among those attending the memorial service were Senator Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan D. Bersin.
Gary M. Williams / EPA
The ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leaves University Medical Center behind a police escort in Tucson, Jan. 21. The lawmaker, who was the target of an assassination attempt earlier this month, left the Arizona hospital where she was being treated to undergo further rehabilitation in Houston.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star via AP
People stand along Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Ariz., as the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, passes by on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is being transported to a medical facility in Houston.
Matt York / AP
People wave and applaud as the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leaves University Medical Center, Friday, Jan. 21, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz.
Susan Montoya Bryan / AP
A makeshift memorial grows outside the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. Giffords is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head suffered at a political event nine days ago outside a Tucson grocery store. Six people were killed and 13 others were injured.
It's interesting how a place as normal as the neighborhood grocery store can be transformed by an event like the Tucson shootings into a site for a community to come together, mourn, and memorialize.
Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
A woman, right, who lost a step-father and who has another family member who was wounded during the shooting rampage at the Safeway supermarket in the La Toscana Village parking lot is comforted on Jan.14, in Tucson, Az.
Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
A woman, right, who lost a step-father and who has another family member who was wounded during the shooting rampage at the Safeway supermarket in the La Toscana Village parking lot mourns on Jan. 14, in Tucson, Az. The supermarket is scheduled to re-open tomorrow. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot in the head and is in critical condition in the hospital after a mass shooting at a Safeway grocery store that killed six and injured several others.
Read the latest on the shootings and those being mourned here, and see our slideshow of these memorials.
Anthony Karen / LIFE.com
Services at the Westboro Baptist Church, Topeka, Kansas in June, 2008.
Anthony Karen / LIFE.com
Signs used during pickets in storage at the Westboro church garage.
Anthony Karen / LIFE.com
Fred Phelps' daughter and church spokesperson, Shirley Phelps-Roper, holds a sign during a protest at Topeka's Gage Park, June 2008. The Westboro church's first protest was held here in June 1991 after an incident in which, according to Pastor Phelps, a gay man tried to lure his then five-year-old grandson into the park. The church still pickets at the park on a regular basis.
Life published a series of images by photograher Anthony Karen, who spent some time with members of the Westboro Baptist Church. The church first made headlines in 2006, picketing the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq. The church planned to protest at the funerals of the victims of the Tucson shooting. Who are they? What drives them to protest? Karen attempted to find out. See more of his images on Life.com.
Update: Brought to my attention by a reader, is that the group first gained notorietyafter picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard in 1998. They have also protested at services for Fred Rogers, Coretta Scott King and Jerry Falwell. In 2006, they protested at Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder's funeral and his family sued for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Mamta Popat / Pool via Getty Images
Roxanna and John Green, parents of Christina Taylor Green, stand with their son Dallas, as they arrive for the funeral of the nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church on Jan. 13, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Green was shot and killed during the Jan. 8 shooting rampage at a political event in Tucson.
This is my picture of the day. I view it as a tragic American scene. I struggle with the oversized flag reflected in the hearse. I see deeply wounded parents and a dazed and confused sibling.
However, I’m sure that other people will view the picture differently. They might see family togetherness or strength during difficult times.
That visual ambiguity is what I like about Mamta Popat’s photograph. It is open to different interpretations, and I believe that is an important element of great art.
Jim Young / Reuters
Daniel Hernandez, the 20-year-old intern credited with likely saving the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, hugs her husband, NASA shuttle commander Mark Kelly, as Michelle Obama applauds at the "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America" event held to support and remember the victims of the Tucson shooting, at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. on Jan. 12, 2011.
We saw a lot of pictures from the service tonight. Most of them were good. A few of them were exceptional. This one of intern Daniel Hernandez hugging Mark Kelly almost brought me to tears. How do you thank the young man who saved your spouse? A big hug is a good start.
Click here to see all the pictures in our slideshow.
From NBC News, msnbc.com and news services
"There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through," Obama said.
Obama urged more civil discourse after a heated week of debate on the origins of the tragedy.
"As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility," Obama said. "Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together...."
President Obama delivers a speech memorializing the victims in Tucson, and asks the country to 'listen to each other more carefully.'
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk to board Air Force One, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Jan. 12, en route to Tucson, Ariz., to attend a memorial service for victims of the mass shooting that targeted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
The way the photographer has used a short depth of field to isolate President Obama in front of the others, in addition to their seeming to brace themselves against the wind from the chopper while he trudges onward, gives the impression - whether true or not - that the President is a man on a mission.
The political blog First Read discusses what Obama may say tonight in Tucson.
Pima County Sheriff's Forensic Unit / Reuters
Jared Lee Loughner, the lone suspect in the attempted assassination of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, is shown in this Pima County Sheriff's Forensic Unit handout photograph released on Jan. 10, 2011. Loughner made his first court appearance on Monday on five federal charges.
We published this picture on our cover today because it’s an important news picture, but we debated whether to include it in PhotoBlog.
You could make the argument that the alleged shooter wants the notoriety and fame that comes from an event like this, and we’re playing right into his plans. Honestly, I wouldn’t argue with you on that point.
On the other hand, this is the picture that everyone has been waiting for, and it's certainly striking: "Ghoulish and grinning," as Brian Williams reported on NBC Nightly News. We find ourselves asking, "Who could do this?," and look for the details that could help answer that question. This is one of those details. Our hope is that information, however ghoulish, has value. It adds to the sum of human knowledge. It sparks conversations and healthy debate. It helps citizens understand the events of our time and do something about them.
The tragic stories I’ve seen and read about the victims are sad, but the stories about the heroes who jumped into the line of fire and saved untold lives give me hope. I wish there was something we all could do to ease the pain of those who are most touched by this horrific event.
UPDATED 1/21/2011:
Yesterday the Washington Post's Paul Farhi reported on newspapers' differing uses of the Loughner photograph across the country, and described the photograph this way:
In contrast to the few available photos taken before his arrest, Loughner's mug shot suggested defiance, unapologetic glee, indifference to consequence and possible derangement. (full story)
Today, Zane Gutierrez, a friend of Loughner's, told the TODAY show's Meredith Vieira this about the picture:
Jared was a really. . . he was a nice guy. The difference between the picture that is going around everywhere now, with the shaved head, that's not Jared Loughner, that's not my friend. That's a monster, that was a different person. (full video)
Read more here.
Chris Morrison / AP
Emergency officials work at the scene of a shooting that authorities claim involved Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Saturday, Jan. 8, at a Safeway grocery store in Tucson, Ariz.
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