Angle defends herself against ties to Arizona shooting

WASHINGTON -- Sharron Angle on Wednesday rejected criticism that she shares responsibility for creating a charged political atmosphere that might have contributed to the mass shooting in Arizona.

"The despicable act in Tucson is a horrifying and senseless tragedy and should be condemned as a single act of violence by a single unstable individual," Angle said in a statement that laid blame solely on the man authorities said attempted to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., on Saturday.

Six people were killed; Giffords was among the wounded.

Angle said efforts to blame her or other Tea Party figures in the attack were "irresponsible." She said suspect Jared Loughner "was obsessed with his twisted plans long before the Tea Party movement began."

Angle, a Republican from Northern Nevada who ran for U.S. Senate last year with strong Tea Party support, has been criticized by those who say incendiary rhetoric, including remarks she made during her campaign, has coarsened the nation's politics and might be encouraging mentally unstable people to take action on what they hear.

In a January 2010 conversation with a talk radio host, Angle remarked that "Second Amendment remedies" were available to people "if Congress keeps going the way it is," and specifically referred to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, her Democratic opponent. The Second Amendment protects Americans' right to bear arms.

Angle later said she was speaking broadly about constitutional rights and not calling for gun violence against elected officials.

Her comment has been recalled repeatedly since the Arizona shooting by pundits and some Democrats.

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said Loughner "saw a Second Amendment remedy, and that's what occurred here, and there is no way not to make that connection."

In Tucson, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said Angle's comments were "totally irresponsible and are not without consequences, and I think we may be seeing the fruit of it here."

Asked about Angle's "Second Amendment" comment during a televised interview Tuesday with Nevada political columnist Jon Ralston, Rep. Joe Heck. R-Nev., said people who used charged language "need to take into consideration the environment in which they are using them. I'm not saying it is a phrase I would use."

In her statement, Angle said criticism of her was opportunistic and dangerous in its own way.

"The irresponsible assignment of blame to me, (former Republican vice presidential candidate) Sarah Palin or the Tea Party movement by commentators and elected officials puts all who gather to redress grievances in danger," Angle said. "Finger-pointing towards political figures is an audience-rating game and contradicts the facts as they are known."

In another example of what some have cited as reckless imagery, Palin's political action committee during last year's campaign sought to defeat 20 Democrats, including Giffords, and marked their districts on a website map with symbols that resembled gun cross hairs. Giffords said at the time the image was disturbing.

Angle's comments came after Tea Party favorite Palin said in a video Wednesday that efforts to blame conservatives for the shooting was a "blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."

Palin's use of the phrase "blood libel" triggered controversy of its own, as it is a phrase that has been invoked over centuries by anti-Semites in attacks on Jews. It refers to a false accusation that Jews killed Gentile babies and used their blood in religious rituals.

"While the term 'blood-libel' has become part of the English parlance to refer to someone being falsely accused, we wish that Palin had used another phrase, instead of one so fraught with pain in Jewish history," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Angle's statement noted she posted condolences to the Arizona shooting victims on her Facebook page on the day of the attack.

"I have consistently called for reasonable political dialogue on policy issues to encourage civil political education and debate," Angle said in the statement. "Inappropriately attributing blame of a singular tragedy to achieve a political agenda is contrary to civil discourse and is a media ploy to which I refuse to belong."

Stephens Washington Bureau writer Peter Urban contributed to this report. Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephens
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