Protecting Her

What Gabrielle Giffords doesn't know: The horror of the shooting & the peoplekilled

Shooting victims, from top left: Christina Taylor Green, 9; Dorothy Morris, 76;Arizona Federal District Judge John Roll, 63. From bottom left: Phyllis Schneck,79; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; and Gabe Zimmerman, 30
Emergency personnel use a stretcher to move Rep. Gabrielle Goffords after shewas shot in the head outside a shopping center in Tucson, Ariz.
Photo by James Palka/AP

For her staff, family and caregivers, Gabrielle Giffords' so-far rapid recovery is bittersweet. The Congresswoman's amazing progress, though encouraging, brings them closer to having to disclose the extent of the Jan. 8 tragedy that nearly killed her.

As Giffords continues to recover here in Houston at Memorial Hermann's The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) from a bullet wound to the forehead, her family and staff brace themselves for when they'll have to tell her that the man who shot her in front of a Tucson, Ariz. grocery store also took the lives of six people — including that of an aide, Gabriel Zimmerman, and 9-year old Christina Green — and injured another 13.

Giffords' chief of staff, Pia Carusone, told the CBS Early Show that although Giffords knows there has been "a traumatic event," they are waiting to give her details until she's better able to communicate.

Carusone said: "The details of the severity of the injuries to the others . . . she doesn't know yet about. But she will in time, when she's at a higher level of communication […] It's not really fair, as you can imagine, to tell something so tragic to someone that might not have the ability to ask the detailed questions they will have when they hear this news."

According to reports from TIRR, Giffords' Houston-based husband, Mark Kelly, and her mother, Giffords is able to mouth words, verbalize requests, process information and is even walking the halls with assistance.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”