Jared Loughner was indicted yesterday with more federal murder charges than he'd previously been accused of. Talking Points Memo reports that the "news out of the 49-count superceding indictment is that Loughner is now charged with the murder of non-federal employees who were participating in the event held by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) back in January."

All six of the deaths as well as the 13 injuries are included in the federal charges against Loughner, as the Department of Justice argues they took place as "an activity provided by the United States." Normally the non-federal employees' deaths would be state matters. These new charges might face some challenges, as a few legal experts are already questioning the DOJ's approach. Aitan D. Goelman, a federal prosecutor involved in the prosecuting the Oklahma City bombers, told The Washington Post, "in Oklahoma, we charged McVeigh and Nichols with eight counts for the federal agents who were killed. We did not charge 168 murder counts for the other 160 people who were inside the federal building."
 

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Caitlin Dickson