Certainly, there has been a bit of contradictory information and inaccurate reporting in the past 50 hours. Very understandable, given the circumstances. However, it becomes less forgivable as the initial shock and tumult die down a bit.
In reviewing coverage, I have come across two possibly-contradictory accounts; I hope that this post can help get them sorted out.
1) Reports about Patricia Maisch's valiant efforts in preventing further shooting by Loughner. Several reports indicated that she had grabbed the second magazine and had delayed Loughner until Roger Salzgeber and Bill D. Badger could tackle him. However, Ms. Maisch explained to ABC News that he was already knocked to the ground when she joined in. (See the video below.)
2) The second question is about when Loughner asked Rep. Giffords his question about "What is government if words have no meaning?" It appears that it is being widely assumed that he asked it AT the "Congress On Your Corner" event that he attended in August 2007 at the Foothills Mall. However, at least one of the sources for that question appears to be Loughner's former friend Bryce Tierney. And, Tierney - in his interview with Mother Jones magazine - has stated that Loughner may have gone to other Giffords' events AND that Loughner asked the question after she had opened up the floor for questions.
As has been reported extensively about Saturday's "Congress On Your Corner" event, it is strictly a situation where constituents could have a few minutes of one-on-one time to speak with their Representative in Congress; there would not have been a time that "she had opened up the floor for questions."
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Small points, to be sure. But, hopefully, they will be ironed out and more reports will be cross-checked as carefully as possible going forward.
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