IS THIS WHY ARIZONA SHERIFF SMEARING TALK RADIO?

The Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik blamed talk radio and some television for the Safeway massacre in Tucson, AZ on Saturday. In fact, he has been popping off and speaking irresponsibly ever since. The logical question is why would a Sheriff speculate about the motives of a shooter before having all of the facts? It really is unprecedented. It appears there exists a history between Dupnik's Department and the shooter, Jared Loughner and they were violent in nature.

Via NPR:

"As we understand it, there have been law enforcement contacts with the individual where he made threats to kill," Dupnik said during a press conference Saturday evening. But he wouldn't say who those threats were aimed at.

How about this from the Arizona Daily Star:

The suspected shooter has made death threats before and been contacted by law-enforcement officers, but the threats weren't against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Dupnik said. The suspect is unstable, Dupnik said, but the sheriff would not say he is "insane."

With those reports as a backdrop, a blogger reports that Dupnik's department may have some significant culpability.

Via The Cholla Jumps:

Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff’s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County.

Is Dupnik so outspoken about talk radio and right wing 'rhetoric' in an effort to distract attention away from his own Department?

h/t Ace of Spades