Giffords Jewish; shooter read Mein Kampf & Communist Manifesto

Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

Shooter Loughner is currently being held by police and has been described as "unstable." He reportedly listed "Mein Kampf" and the "Communist Manifesto" as two of his favorite books on his MySpace page. Several hours before the shooting he reportedly left a "Goodbye friends" message, which also said "Please don't be mad at me."

Giffords was elected to Congress in the Democratic sweep in 2006. The first Jewish woman elected to Congress from the state, she made her Jewish identity part of her campaign.

“If you want something done, your best bet is to ask a Jewish woman to do it,” said Giffords, a former state senator, said at the time. “Jewish women — by our tradition and by the way we were raised — have an ability to cut through all the reasons why something should, shouldn’t or can’t be done and pull people together to be successful.”

Giffords, 40, was raised "mixed" by a Christian Scientist mother and Jewish father, but said that after a visit to Israel in 2001, she had decided she was Jewish only. She attended services at a local Reform synagogue.

In one of her last photos, she posed with the new U.S. House of Representatives speaker, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) at her swearing in; her hand is on the "Five Books of Moses."

Also: Giffords staffer Gabe Zimmerman killed in Arizona shooting...

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