[ROCHESTER, Minn.] One of the bizarre twists of fate for the We Build The Wall founder and Air Force veteran, who gave his legs and an arm while serving at Balad Air Base, Iraq, is that he is now incarcerated with the man who tried to kill his old boss, former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords.
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Kolfage was sentenced to 51 months of federal time after he pleaded guilty to tax and wire fraud charges in 2023. These charges were tied to the financial management of We Build The Wall. This privately funded organization built a steel and bollard barrier to close a gap in the Mexican border in Sunland, New Mexico. It also contributed funds towards constructing a 4-mile barrier near McAllen, Texas.
Jared Lee Loughner shot Giffords on Jan. 8, 2011, at her “Congress on Your Corner” constituent meeting. Loughner killed six people and injured 13 others after he opened fire.
The Purple Heart recipient said it is unnerving to see Loughner in the same facility where he is being held, the Federal Medical Center-Rochester, a specialized prison run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons for inmates with severe or complicated health challenges.
“I was going to say something to him. I know he claimed he was insane and stuff, and that’s why he is at the mental ward here,” said the husband and fat her of two girls.
“He seems normal to me, but he went and got three tattoos of 9mm bullets on his back to represent the people he killed.”
Giffords was shot in the head, and the severe injury led to her retirement from Congress.
Loughner pleaded guilty to 19 charges and was sentenced to life without parole.
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The Detroit native, who is considered the most severely combat-wounded airman to survive, said he built the wall he promised to build and did not seek to enrich himself but, upon the advice of his legal team, took the plea deal.
“There was no way I could win,” he said.
The former air cargo inspector said he hopes President Donald J. Trump releases him upon the president’s return to the White House so he can reunite with his family and restore his health.
Kolfage was a Giffords staffer, supporter
Kolfage was an intern for the then-state senator in 2005 before she ran for Congress in 2006 and before he enlisted in the Air Force.
In her 2010 campaign, Kolfage endorsed Giffords and cited her work helping veterans.
In 2012, Giffords invited the former air cargo inspector as her guest to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address.
Kolfage, who served on the congresswoman’s Veteran’s Advisory Board, told The Tucson Sentinel he was grateful for Giffords’ help during his struggles.
Kolfage, 30, said Giffords, who announced Sunday that she will step down from Congress this week, helped him receive care and benefits.
“She’s helped me with a lot of stuff. She would cut through red tape and expedited things with Veterans Affairs,” he said Monday.
Kolfage said the community and the University of Arizona also have been good to veterans.
“Tucson has the most veteran-friendly university in the U.S.,” he said.
On Jan. 8, 2011, Kolfage and his wife, Ashley, were returning home from spending the holidays with Ashley’s family in San Angelo, Texas, when they heard the news that Giffords had been shot with 18 others in Tucson.
“I spoke with her the day before,” he said. “We were driving back to Arizona and we heard on the radio that she was killed. It was shocking. It hit home that it can happen to anyone, and it brought back memories (of Iraq).”
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The following year, Kolfage joined Giffords in reciting the “Gettysburg Address” for a project by Ken Burns, “Learn the Address,” which involved Americans from across the country reciting President Abraham Lincoln’s battlefield speech for its 150th anniversary.
For more details about Brian Kolfage, read my piece: Exclusive: We Build The Wall Founder Brian Kolfage Hopes Trump Frees Him From Federal Lockup