A man charged with trying to assassinate a US congresswoman in a shooting that left six people dead and more than a dozen wounded has appeared in federal court in Tucson, Arizona.
Jared Loughner, 22, faces several charges over the attack on Saturday.
Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head, remains in a critical condition but doctors say the swelling in her brain has stabilised.
Among the dead were a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge.
Mr Loughner walked into the courtroom wearing handcuffs and in a prison uniform, with a cut on the right side of his head.
During the 13-minute hearing, Mr Loughner said very little, only periodically leaning forward to answer questions into a microphone.
Mr Loughner, who did not enter a plea, confirmed his identity and had an attorney appointed to defend him.
He has been assigned a lawyer who defended Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Timothy McVeigh. She waived a detention hearing for her client.
The courtroom in Arizona was under protection by about a dozen US marshalls on Monday
The courtroom was under heavy protection on Monday by around a dozen US marshalls.
Prosecutors have charged Mr Loughner with five counts, including killing federal employees and attempting to assassinate Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
It is unclear whether the US justice department will seek the death penalty against Mr Loughner.
Ms Giffords had been holding an open-invitation meeting with constituents outside a supermarket in Tucson on Saturday when a man holding a gun approached and opened fire.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg, a gun control advocate from the US state of New Jersey, announced plans on Monday to introduce legislation that would ban high-capacity ammunition clips, like the one used in Saturday's mass killing.
"The only reason to have 33 bullets loaded in a handgun is to kill a lot of people very quickly. These high-capacity clips simply should not be on the market," Mr Lautenberg said.
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