In a few minutes Jared Loughner will be sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences—it's part of a plea deal he agreed to over the summer—for killing six people, wounding 13 others, and attempting to take the life of then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Dashiell Bennett reported earlier that Giffords would be at Loughner's sentencing today.
Cameras weren't allowed into the courtroom for that sentencing, but journalists were. That's how we learned of Giffords' and her husband Mark Kelly's powerful statement to Loughner, albeit in fragmented 140-character Twitter speak via The New York Times's Phoenix bureau chief Fernanda Santos.
Kelly spoke for his wife and touched upon gun control:
Kelly: "We have representatives who look at gun violence not as problem to solve, but as the white elephant in the room to ignore" #Loughner
— Fernanda Santos (@fernandaNYT) November 8, 2012
And Gabby's condition:
Kelly to #Loughner, about Giffords, his wife: "She struggles to walk, her right arm is paralyzed, she’s partially blind."
— Fernanda Santos (@fernandaNYT) November 8, 2012
But mostly we were looking for this—the chance for all of us, including Gabby, to just be done with the name Jared Loughner:
Kelly's final words to #Loughner: “After today, after this moment, Gabby and I are done thinking about you.” Then, he & Giffords walked away
— Fernanda Santos (@fernandaNYT) November 8, 2012
CNN has the best transcript of the statement at the moment, but they admit it isn't complete: "You'll want to note a few things he said that we didn't manage to include in this post right away, including his criticism of some elected officials' stances on gun control."
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