January 9, 2012

(JTA) — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords led the Pledge of Allegiance at a vigil marking the one-year anniversary of an attack on the congresswoman and her constituents at a political event.

Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, attended the candlelight vigil Sunday night at the University of Arizona to mark the attack. Bells at churches and private homes rang out throughout Tucson at 10:11 a.m. Sunday morning, the time that the attack took place one year ago.

The commemoration also included an interfaith prayer service at a local church, during which a shofar was blown by a rabbi.

During the day, Giffords and Kelly also walked a short way on a trail in nearby Davidson Canyon named for one of the victims, Gabe Zimmerman, a former aide to Giffords.

Six people were killed and a dozen injured in the attack in Tucson by alleged gunman Jared Lee Loughner.

Giffords, the first Jewish woman elected to the Congress from Arizona, was shot in the head and continues to undergo intensive therapy. The three-term Democrat is planning to run again if her health permits it, according to reports.

Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges connected with the shooting. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but was found fit to stand trial.
 

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