Americans search for answers on Giffords shooting

Americans flocked to search engines over the weekend to find out more about the Saturday shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) as news about the attack broke quickly and sometimes incompletely. 

The most popular search terms show elements of the story that have provoked further questions from the public. 

The fourth most popular Google search term in the U.S. on Sunday morning was "vitriol" as lawmakers suggested political opponents dial down their rhetoric after the shooting. 

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) made such comments in interviews on Sunday, The Hill reported.

"I think that what's happened here is that the vitriol has gotten so elevated [that] people feel emboldened by this," Clyburn, the assistant minority leader, said on "Fox News Sunday."

Meanwhile, "American Renaissance" topped Google's results after Fox News reported that the Homeland Security Department had linked the alleged shooter Jared Lee Loughner to that group in a memo. The memo reportedly described American Renaissance as an anti-Semitic group. (A spokesman said the group was characterized incorrectly.)

"Sarah Palin crosshairs" registered in the ninth spot after an aide to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) decried commentary that an emblem used by her political action committee helped stoke violence. 

Critics said the emblem looked like gun sights, but a spokeswoman for Palin says the emblem shows no such thing.