Tea Party leader in AZ claims to be a victim. Says Gifford played political gamesmanship.

madfloridian

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Sun Jan-16-11 01:30 AM
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Tea Party leader in AZ claims to be a victim. Says Gifford played political gamesmanship.

The nerve these people have is unbelievable. There is a video clip in the article of Trent Humphries speaking. He says the Tea Party shares no blame at all.

Today one of the men who was shot was arrested for threatening Humphries at the meeting. Humphries is free to go around blaming the ones who were shot. He takes no responsibility.

Trent Humphries blames Gifford for Saturday shooting.

In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, teabagger Trent Humphries blames Rep. Gabrielle Giffords for Saturday's shooting, and then has the audacity to claim that We're Arizona shooting victims too. Like Sarah Palin, for this fool "it's all about me!" Blaming the victim of an assassin's bullet for the acts of a mad man is beyond the pale. This fool doesn't know when to shut up.

But Trent Humphries says there is another innocent victim left by Jared Lee Loughner's killing of six people and wounding of 14 others in his assassination attempt against Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. It is his Tea Party movement and, more particularly, his family. The killings, he says, are evolving into a conspiracy to destroy his organisation and silence criticism of the government. (the Rush Limbaugh talking point du jour). Humphries is the co-founder of Tucson's Tea Party, a movement besieged by accusations that its use of the rhetoric of armed resistance against political opponents played a role in the shootings.

The local sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, quickly pointed the finger at the growing vitriol, hate and anger directed against the government on talk radio and by Tea Party supporters in Arizona, where Democrats and liberals from President Obama to Giffords are portrayed as enemies of the people, un-American or Nazis. Giffords herself warned that the Tea Party favourite, Sarah Palin, was "firing people up" with a campaign poster that put the Democratic party congresswoman in the crosshairs of a rifle.

Humphries is having none of it. "A lot have taken as gospel that the sheriff says that this was caused by talk radio, by Tea Party extremists, that that must be the case. I think it's done a lot of damage. It's given people the idea that somebody like my wife and I caused this murder.

This is the worst statement he made.

"It's political gamesmanship. The real case is that she (Giffords) had no security whatsoever at this event. So if she lived under a constant fear of being targeted, if she lived under this constant fear of this rhetoric and hatred that was seething, why would she attend an event in full view of the public with no security whatsoever?" he said. "For all the stuff they accuse her (Palin) of, that gun poster has not done a tenth of the damage to the political discourse as what we're hearing right now. There are people who are genuinely confused, scared, and I understand it. But there are also people who are deliberately manipulating this event and tragedy for political ends."

That is really scary stuff.

More about the arrest of the shooting victim.

Shooting victim arrested, accused of threat

A man who was wounded in last week's shooting rampage in Tucson was apprehended by authorities Saturday after he allegedly threatened a "tea party" activist at a town hall meeting of victims and eyewitnesses of the attack.

James Eric Fuller, a 63-year-old Democratic activist, was arrested after shouting "You're dead!" at Tucson Tea Party spokesman Trent Humphries, said Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jason Ogan. Fuller was shot in the knee and back Jan. 8 when a gunman opened fire, killing six and injuring 13, including Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Fuller, a disabled veteran and former campaign volunteer for Giffords, was charged with making threats, intimidation and disorderly conduct and was involuntarily committed for a psychiatric evaluation, Ogan said.

A Republican state representative made sure to go to the police presence and ask that Fuller be investigated.

Man Shot in Tucson Rampage Is Arrested at a TV Taping

Ms. Proud said she spoke up to clarify the bill's language. At that point, Trent Humphries, the founder of the Tucson Tea Party, who was sitting one row behind her, rose to speak and suggested that discussion about gun legislation be postponed until after the funerals. He started to say that he, too, had been affected by the tragedy, explaining that a neighbor had been a victim.

At that point, Ms. Proud said, Mr. Fuller blurted out to Mr. Humphries, "You're dead."

Mr. Fuller then began to "behave in a very odd manner," she said. "He was making inappropriate comments."

After the forum wrapped up, Ms. Proud said she went to one of the police officers providing security at the event and asked him if he would file a report about the comment to Mr. Humphries. The officer told her they were already investigating it.

I don't see anyone calling for any investigation into the words of Trent Humphries that might have been geared toward angering liberals.

In fact, I have a feeling they are going to build up the rhetoric in their attempts to blame anyone but themselves. That in itself could get way out of hand very quickly.