Former President Bill Clinton has told the BBC the US political climate must change after the shooting of a US Congresswoman and others in Arizona.
"No one intends to do anything that encourages this sort of behaviour," he said. But political rhetoric "falls on the unhinged and the hinged alike".
He said political differences should not "degenerate into demonisation".
Some commentators suggest the vitriolic political rhetoric in the US may have contributed in some way to the attack.
Jared Loughner, 22, is charged with the shooting in Tucson, in which six people were killed, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, and more than a dozen injured. In an initial court appearance on Monday he was ordered jailed pending trial.
"We don't understand why this happened. It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday," Mr Loughner's parents said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening.
"We care very deeply about the victims and their families," they added. "We are so very sorry for their loss". BBC News
