Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Mr. Hernandez goes to Washington

Screen shot from AP video

Daniel Hernandez

Daniel Hernandez, the young college intern who came to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ rescue after she was shot earlier this month in Tucson, will attend President Obama’s State of the Union Address as a guest of Michelle Obama, along with the family of 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, who died in the Jan. 8 attack at a Tucson grocery store that killed six and injured several others.

Here’s what Hernandez, who turns 21 today, told USA Today:

“It’s definitely a very exciting way to be spending my 21st birthday,” Hernandez said in an interview. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I only wish it had happened under different circumstances.”

In the weeks since the shooting, Hernandez has drawn a legion of fans, in part because of his heroism, in part because he also happens to be Latino and openly gay, and in part because of his uncanny calm and poise at a tender age. Hernandez, who had been working for Giffords for five days at the time of the shooting, ran toward the sound of the gunfire when shots rang out, then used skills he had learned in nursing training to check the pulses of those on the ground. He applied steady pressure to Giffords’ head wound to help stem the flow of blood and prevented her from choking, actions for which he’s been credited with saving her life.

Then, during the Jan. 12 memorial service at the University of Arizona, where he is a student, he proved himself a rousing public speaker while refusing the title of “hero.”

As it turns out, Hernandez had been interviewed by news media before – when he was 10. From the Arizona Daily Star:

When Daniel Hernandez Jr. was about 10 years old, he was interviewed on KUAT, Channel 6, about bilingual classes at his south-side school, Liberty Elementary.

The youngster was calm and spoke in a measured tone, said his father, Daniel Hernandez Sr.

The undoubtedly proud Hernandez Sr., who is 61, flew to Washington with his son and will watch on a monitor at the White House, according to USA Today.

FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, Arizona shooting, Daniel Hernandez, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, State of the Union

January 12, 2011 | 7:58 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Quote of the moment: Daniel Hernandez at the Tucson memorial service

“On Saturday, we all became Tucsonans. On Saturday, we all became Arizonans. And above all, we all became Americans.”

- Daniel Hernandez, the intern credited with saving Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s life during last Saturday’s shooting in Tucson

In addition to being impressively courageous, 20-year-old University of Arizona student Daniel Hernandez turns out to be an impressive public speaker.

Hernandez spoke at the memorial service held at the university in Tucson tonight, also attended by President Obama. During his speech, Hernandez begged off the title of “hero,” saying it belonged to others, among them his boss, Giffords. But Obama called him a hero anyway.

Hernandez had been working for Giffords for five days Saturday when suspected gunman Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a public event outside a grocery store. Six were killed, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, and several others injured. Hernandez ran to the victims as he heard the shots, taking the pulses of those on the ground, stemming the bleeding from the bullet wound on Giffords’ forehead and preventing her from choking.

When Hernandez said “we all became Americans” the crowd responded with a roar. Beyond his heroism, part of what has drawn so much attention to his story is that Hernandez is a dark-skinned Latino, someone who critics of Arizona’s SB 1070 anti-illegal immigration law say could be racially profiled if that portion of the law went into effect. He is also openly gay.

Here’s his speech:

FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, Arizona shooting, Daniel Hernandez, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, University of Arizona

January 10, 2011 | 11:40 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Tweet of the moment: The irony of the hero intern

Jan Brewer now honoring Daniel Hernandez as hero, which he is.

- @Karoli

What if Daniel Hernandez were a DREAM Act candidate? would she honor him then?

- @Karoli

Of course, it’s not the only tweet of the moment concerning Daniel Hernandez, the 20-year-old, openly gay Latino intern who is credited with saving the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, his boss, on Saturday in the Tucson shooting rampage that left six dead and many others injured.

Perhaps the most popular tweet of many tonight, when Hernandez appeared on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, came from the certified account of filmmaker-activist Michael Moore, @MMFlint: “20yr old Daniel Hernandez credited w/ saving Rep. Giffords life. “Hernandez?” Is that legal? Arizona, have u checked his papers?”

But then Moore already gets plenty of attention. The tweet above came from a lesser-known but avid Twitter user and blogger named Karoli who, like others captured by the story, saw irony in it. Hernandez, who is dark-skinned, was honored today in Arizona by Brewer, the governor who signed SB 1070, the anti-immigration law whose critics have warned could lead to racial profiling.

Its most controversial component, which would empower local police to check for immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” a person is here illegally, was among the portions of the law put on hold by a federal judge before its partial implementation in late July. The federal government is challenging SB 1070 on grounds that it is pre-empted by federal law.

It’s been reported that Hernandez is a U.S. citizen, therefore not a “DREAM Act candidate.” But Latino U.S. citizens and legal residents in Arizona are among those who have worried about being profiled by police for their appearance.

No matter who honors Hernandez for his valor, it’s well-deserved. He ran to the victims, secret-service style, after shots were fired, checking pulses and applying pressure to the gunshot wound in Giffords’ forehead. He had only been working for Giffords for five days.

FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, Daniel Hernandez, Michael Moore, Rachel Maddow, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

January 10, 2011 | 5:16 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Why Arizona intern Daniel Hernandez’s heroism is about much more than that

Much has been made by now of the story of Daniel Hernandez, the 20-year-old intern credited with likely saving the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after Saturday’s assassination attempt and shooting rampage in Tucson. The University of Arizona student ran toward the victims after hearing shots fired, checking the pulses of those on the ground and holding Giffords upright as he applied constant pressure to the wound on her forehead. Even after help arrived, he didn’t leave her side. He had been on the job with Giffords’ office for five days.

At first, it was simply news that he was heroic. It then became news that he was heroic while also being Latino and gay.

In another place at another time, only the heroism would have mattered. But because this occurred in 2011 in Arizona, where it’s no secret that Latinos and gays have felt slighted by some of their political leaders, Hernandez’s act of bravery has become as much symbolic as heroic.

Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams asks why Hernandez’s ethnicity and sexual orientation should matter, then answers:

It matters because guys like Arizona Sen. John McCain, who described the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” as “a very sad day,” still think that orientation has an effect on whether or not a person can ably serve in the military.

…It matters because last week, when Arizona banned a Tucson district’s Mexican-American studies program, state’s Attorney General Tom Horne referred to it as “propagandizing and brainwashing.” It matters because just last year Arizona enacted a law that would not merely allow but require immigration officials to determine the immigration status of anyone “where reasonable suspicion exists” that the person might be in the country illegally. And “reasonable suspicion,” as many civil libertarians pointed out, might just boil down to having a darker shade of skin or speaking Spanish.

Latino and gay issues bloggers have been writing about Hernandez in the same context. A post on GayAgenda also challenges McCain’s position on gays in the military, concluding:

One’s sexuality, Hernandez shows, has absolutely nothing to do with courage, nor the ability to protect others in the face of danger — in this case, a raging madman with a gun.

On My Latino Voice, Rosa Alonso writes about the greater significance of Hernandez’s ethnicity and sexual orientation, followed by:

Do any of these “labels” matter? No. Daniel Hernandez is a hero, period. But that is just the point. They shouldn’t. Perhaps a glimmer of “hope” in Arizona – and for this great country of ours.

Today, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer led a standing ovation for Hernandez at the state capitol.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Politics/Justice, Arizona shooting, Daniel Hernandez, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

January 10, 2011 | 1:37 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

After the Tucson shooting, conversation about ‘rhetoric’ remains tied to immigration

Photo by Tom Peck/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Border fence in Cochise County, AZ

It’s a given that the suspected gunman in the fatal shooting that left six dead and critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords this weekend in Tucson wasn’t acting purely on the political rhetoric coming out of the Grand Canyon State, nor on Sarah Palin’s map of congressional districts with crosshairs over them. As with most things, it’s much more complicated than that.

But Saturday’s tragedy, regardless of the shooter’s motive, has opened up a discussion that is still worth having. The incident has led to a national conversation about the political tone that has been coming out of Arizona, and much of that has to do with immigration politics – and, yes, the surrounding rhetoric.

The state is embroiled in controversy over its SB 1070 illegal immigration law, another new law that has essentially banned a Mexican American studies program, and the championing by some conservative political leaders of a national movement to deny U.S. citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants.

It’s not surprising, given all this, that the comments made this weekend by Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik have made the rounds the way they have, making him a hero to some and a villain to others. What he said:

“The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous…And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”

Has it? A series of stories and commentaries have been addressing the influence of immigration politics in Arizona as part of the greater discourse surrounding the shooting. A sampling:

The Los Angeles Times had an interesting analysis of what is described as an “us-versus-them” political climate largely fueled by immigration, quoting state Sen. Russell Pearce (the sponsor of SB 1070, and an anti-birthright citizenship advocate) at an event in Phoenix that took place before the shooting:

“We’re leading the nation,” state Sen. Russell Pearce told the Maricopa County Republican Party as he celebrated the GOP’s clean sweep of state elections in November and Arizona’s influence on immigration and other issues.

Pearce, who wrote a tough immigration law last year, went on in the speech later posted on YouTube: “If it wasn’t for Arizona you wouldn’t have the debate going on that you have. … We’ve changed the face of this nation through the tea party, through Americans who want their government back.”

Congressional Quarterly’s Theodore Emery wrote in Congress.org that the shooting occurred against a “backdrop” of immigration issues, quoting various sources and noting that Giffords had opposed SB 1070. From the piece:

…immigration has been a consistent theme for Giffords, a Democratic moderate whose district in the southeast part of Arizona shares a 100-mile border with Mexico and has seen several high-profile shootings.

It was inside Arizona’s 8th District boundaries that 58-year-old rancher Robert Krentz and his dog were shot and killed last March, fueling concerns about spillover drug violence along the border and helping spur state lawmakers to enact a tough and controversial crackdown on illegal immigration.

Writing for CNN, syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette (a former colleague) mentioned having lived for a while in Arizona in the 1990s in an opinion piece titled “Sheriff Dupnik is right about Arizona.” He wrote:

Raise your hand if you have had it with the drama capital of America, which seems to spend more time on the front page than the other 49 states combined. Or if you think the Grand Canyon State has become, in recent years, more trouble than it’s worth. Or if you feel like saying, to paraphrase what folk singer Phil Ochs said about Mississippi in the 1960s: “Here’s to the people you’ve torn out the heart of. Arizona, find yourself another country to be part of.”

While not specifically addressing Arizona politics or immigration, Jennifer Rubin defended conservative lawmakers and media in a Washington Post opinion piece, pointing out that accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner had no known political agenda:

It is as noxious to associate Saturday’s shooting with conservative campaign rhetoric, even that which is over-the-top, as it would be to claim that violence is the doing of those who labeled Tea Partyers un-American (as Democratic leaders did during the health-care debate) or of those who accuse senators of being unpatriotic (as a liberal newspaper columnist recently did). If a lunatic attacks a businessman, are we to blame Obama for vilifying the Chamber of Commerce?

Lastly, Dee Dee Garcia Blase, the founder of a conservative Latino group in Arizona called Somos Republicans, posted on the group’s website yesterday that she overheard a comment that offended her while at a political gathering Saturday, shortly after news of the shooting was announced:

While in shock and in disbelief, I heard snickers in the distance and muffled voices asserting that the shooting was probably “done by an illegal.”

FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, Arizona shooting, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, SB 1070, Sen. Russell Pearce, U.S.-Mexico border

January 9, 2011 | 12:26 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Immigration, hate, and the Arizona shooting

Photo by Patrick Dockens/Flickr (Creative Commons)

How much of a role did the immigration debate and racial-ethnic hatred play in yesterday’s devastating shooting in Tucson that killed six and injured 13, among them U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords? The motive of suspected shooter Jared Lee Loughner, described as mentally unstable, is still unclear and may always be. But there are connections to both that continue to develop.

A Department of Homeland Security memo leaked to Fox News pointed to a possible link between Loughner and the radical group American Renaissance, which advocates white supremacy. From the memo published by Fox:

…strong suspicion is being directed at AmRen / American Renaissance. Suspect is possibly linked to this group. (through videos posted on his myspace and YouTube account.). The group’s ideology is anti government, anti immigration, anti ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti Semitic.

Gabrielle Gifford is the first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the US government. She was also opposite this group’s ideology when it came to immigration debate.

The group has denied any involvement with the shooting suspect.

Giffords, who was shot point blank in the head but survived, was a foe of Arizona’s stringent SB 1070 immigration law. Immigration issues were a flashpoint during the Democratic incumbent’s campaign against Republican challenger Jesse Kelly, a Tea Party candidate who “held fundraisers where he urged supporters to help remove Giffords from office by joining him to shoot a fully loaded M-16 rifle,” per the Associated Press.

And while he is not thought to have been a target, among the dead is U.S. District Judge John Roll, who two years ago received death threats after he allowed a lawsuit filed by undocumented immigrants against vigilante rancher Roger Barnett to move forward. The threats were taken so seriously that Roll and his wife were assigned a security detail for a month. From the Arizona Republic:

When Roll ruled the case could go forward, U.S. Marshal David Gonzales said in 2009 that talk-radio shows cranked up the controversy and spurred audiences into making threats.

In one afternoon, Roll logged more than 200 phone calls. Callers threatened the judge and his family. They posted personal information about Roll online.

“They said, ‘We should kill him. He should be dead,’” Gonzales said.

Also among those who died was a 9-year-old girl born on September 11, 2001. The shooting occurred at a community event held by Giffords’ office outside a Tucson grocery store. Charges against Loughner are expected to be filed today.

UPDATE: Loughner was charged with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder in U.S. District Court this afternoon. According to the complaint, a letter from Rep. Giffords was found in a safe at his home, thanking him for attending a 2007 public event similar to yesterday’s.