Obama Calls For Healing In Wake Of Tucson Shooting

During a memorial ceremony held in Arizona Wednesday evening, President Barack Obama called on the still-shaken country to honor the victims slain in Saturday’s devastating attack by resisting the urge to point fingers.

“If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost,” Obama told the thousands who had packed a stadium on the University of Arizona campus. “Let’s make sure it’s not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.”

In the nearly thirty five minute address, Obama explained that attempting to “make sense out of that which seems senseless” is a natural response, but that the national conversation needs to take an amicable tone.

“It’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds,” Obama said.

On Saturday, a gunman opened fire on a Congressional event outside of a Tucson-based supermarket, leaving Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in critical condition and killing six others, including Federal Judge John Roll, Giffords’ staffer Gabe Zimmerman and Christina Greene, a nine year old girl.

The President used his remarks to recognize each of the six victims of the shooting, mentioning both their names and their personal histories, and also express his gratitude for those who acted to disarm the gunman and provide on-the-scene medical care.

“These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle.  They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength,” Obama said. “Heroism is here, all around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just waiting to be summoned.”

The crowd, which a University of Arizona official determined to be over 14,000 in the auditorium and an additional 13,000 in the overflow section, consisted of a handful of federal officials, including Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and several members of Congress.

Prior to delivering his remarks, Obama met with both victims and responders at a local hospital, including Gabrielle Giffords. The President said that Giffords opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting shortly after he left the room.