Wednesday's intriguing people
Twenty people were shot Saturday outside a Safeway grocery in Tucson, Arizona.
January 12th, 2011
12:14 PM ET

Wednesday's intriguing people

Mary Reed

Mary Reed's 17-year-old daughter, Emma, was a congressional page last summer for Gabrielle Giffords but never got a picture with her. So Reed and her daughter went to the constituent event at a Safeway in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday, hoping for a photo opportunity.

Suddenly, gunfire broke out, and Reed was struck in the left arm. She pinned Emma to a wall to protect her and then took two more bullets in her right arm and back.

"He was literally going to have to go through me, and that wasn't going to happen," Reed told CNN affiliate KPHO.

Reed, who is recovering at home, is more concerned now with the psychological scars than the physical ones.

"My children had to witness people being killed, people dying right by them, blood everywhere. It's a very hard thing to acknowledge that's what my children had to experience," she told KPHO.

Trent Humphries

Tucson's Tea Party co-founder says the killings in Tucson have led to a conspiracy to shut down his organization and silence criticism of the U.S. government.

Humphries says statements made by Pima County Sheriff Charles Dupnick have prompted a string of hateful calls and e-mails to him and other members of his movement.

"A lot have taken as gospel that the sheriff says that this (shooting) was caused by talk radio, by Tea Party extremists, that that must be the case," Humphries told the British publication The Guardian. "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.

"There's no evidence. And there's no evidence Sarah Palin caused this murder," he continued.

"The Democrats are using this opportunity to bludgeon their opponents. People don't want to hear that it was just some stupid, evil act that had no bearing in rationality. They want it to make sense."

Humphries said he too is grieving after learning of the death of his neighbor Dorwan Stoddard.

Carla Glori

An Italian art historian doesn't know why the "Mona Lisa" was painted but she says she does know where.

Carla Glori says that three-arched stone bridge over Mona Lisa's left shoulder is in Bobbio, a village south of Piacenza, in northern Italy.

Although most historians believe the landscape behind the subject is one drawn from Da Vinci's imagination, Glori is convinced it's a real place, according to The Guardian. She will publish further details in her new book, "The Leonardo Enigma," due for release this year.

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Filed under: Arizona • Art • Crime • Gabrielle Giffords • Italy • Most Intriguing People • Politics • Tea Party
soundoff (127 Responses)
  1. Tauna

    I feel terribly for all of you bickering on this line. This article is trying to show something positive that happened on a terrible day and all you guys can do is argue about religion and politics. You guys are just proving each others point. A mother shielded her child from harm. That is the greatest love; the willingness to sacrifice yourself for someone you love. This, I think, we can all agree on.

    January 12, 2011 at 6:59 pm | Report abuse |
  2. worc

    Mary to a true hero.
    Trent how dose it feel?
    I do things for others once a week. So what is the big deal? Talk is easy.

    January 12, 2011 at 8:06 pm | Report abuse |
  3. worc

    Life is good.

    January 12, 2011 at 8:21 pm | Report abuse |
  4. JeffP

    @BigD- First off, I would like to see ANY proof that you have on any deity. If you can give me any sort of evidence, and I don't mean wacked out psycho babel from those who are ridiculously deluded. I mean any sort of evidence proving any sort of deity. Now back to business, I haven't seen any kindness from you, from the start you have been a bickering fool, I could fill this page up with things I've done for others. And it's not "bashing" because we are comfortable talking about what we believe in and believers find it outlandish. I would assume that you believe in the judeo-christian "Jesus Christ" I would like to know what made you choose this god? I can tell you, without ever meeting you. Your parents, family and friends were raised up to believe in that particular myth, you were let down by our educational system and never got a good grasp of reality, never let go fantasies and then through childhood indoctrination you became a "devout" Christian. I bet, through research, you can find thousands of gods that are not only better, but more "moral" than your "savior." Have you ever heard of Unkulunkulu? I sure bet you haven't, thats because those who believe in him predominately reside in Niger Congo A and Niger Congo B. Just like those who grew up in the middle east believe in "Allah." Your just blindly following and defending your closed minded belief system. You say do research, yet, you haven't provided a shred of knowledge to support your wildly ignorant claims.

    January 12, 2011 at 8:31 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Gian Luca Libretti

    Mona Lisa and Leonardo in Bobbio

    BOBBIO (Piacenza – Emilia Romagna – Northern Italy)
    Small, early medieval old town, Bobbio is located in the heart of Val Trebbia, valley described by Ernest Hemingway as the most beautiful in the world and environmental heritage of UNESCO. The resort is nestled at the foot of Monte Penice (1,460 m.), on the left bank of the river Trebbia. Its history is identified with the Abbey founded in 614 by St. Columbanus, who in the Dark Ages became one of the main places of religious culture in medieval Italy, with a famous library and scriptorium famous. The possessions of the abbey in Lombard and Carolingian age span across the top Italy, and was the original on which the monastery in Umberto Eco’s novel The Name of the Rose was based.
    The Old Bridge: the 280 metre long Ponte Vecchio (“Old Bridge”), which spans the Trebbia by means of eleven unequal arches, is known to have existed before 1196 and may be of Roman origin. From its curious and irregularity shape it is commonly called the ‘Hunchback Bridge’; also the ‘Devil’s Bridge’ after many legends: the famous legend tells that it was built by the Devil in one night after he made a pact with Saint Columbanus who promised him the soul of the first passerby; but when the bridge was finished the Irish Saint sent a dog. (Wikipedia)

    Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBtJhCwhfxI&feature=player_embedded

    The most beautiful villages in Italy (association) – Bobbio (EN): http://www.borghitalia.it/html/borgo_en.php?codice_borgo=723&codice=elenco&page=1

    January 13, 2011 at 5:37 am | Report abuse |
    • JeffP

      What does this have to do with anything?

      January 13, 2011 at 7:09 pm | Report abuse |
  6. John Lenarduzzi

    Those who use this opportunity to speak of God are missing a greater opportunity to talk about the mental health issue. Loughner's history is an example of how impossible it is to get psychological health care. The college he attended did not help him, the police had multiple encounters with his bizarre behavior and did not help him. Nor did his family or friends. What does it take to get help. I wish I knew. Those who talk about God should ask him for an answer.

    January 18, 2011 at 4:03 pm | Report abuse |
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