Holder: Tolerance and Peace Stronger Than Threats Against Officials

Jan. 11:Attorney General Eric Holder delivers remarks at the Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative program, at the Justice Department in Washington. (AP)

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Eric Holder says the shootings that killed a federal judge and gravely wounded an Arizona congresswoman were an "unspeakable tragedy."

Holder said the violence at a Tucson, Ariz., event Saturday serves as a reminder that the world has yet to run its course of cruelty. But he says the continuing threats against officials are not as strong as the forces working for tolerance and peace.

U.S. District Judge John Roll was killed and U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, remains in critical condition in Tucson. Doctors are optimistic about her recovery, although she was shot through the head.

Holder spoke in the Justice Department's Great Hall Tuesday during an event to commemorate the life of slain civil rights leader Dr. Marin Luther King Jr.