Posted on 07/29/2015 12:28:18 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
A protest is planned for Wednesday afternoon at the Bloomington dental practice run by a man who hunted and killed a lion in Zimbabwe earlier this month. Dr. Walter James Palmer, 55, is also facing calls that he be held accountable for poaching.
Palmer of Eden Prairie was identified on Tuesday as the hunter who killed Cecil the lion, a popular attraction and research subject at Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park.
Zimbabwean authorities said the lion was lured out of the protection park and shot with a bow and arrow around July 1. The hunters found the wounded animal 40 hours later, killed him using a firearm. They then skinned, beheaded the lion and took off his GPS tracking collar.
The killing sparked outrage online, locally and across the ocean, with Zimbabwean authorities charging the hunting guide and owner of the land where the lion was killed with poaching. A Zimbabwean police spokesperson has said that Palmer may face charges.
Palmer said in a statement that he would cooperate with Zimbabwean and U.S. authorities in any inquiries. He said he did not realize that Cecil was a popular animal and believes the hunting guides he hired had obtained all necessary legal permits.
People have been leaving notes and stuffed animals at the Bloomington site of Palmer's dental practice since news of his involvement emerged. The practice has been closed since Tuesday. The protest is planned for 4 p.m. on Wednesday. By noon, about 1,700 people had already said they planned to attend on Facebook.
"We wanted to go to his dental practice because he's ostensibly a member of the community," said Dallas Rising of the Animal Rights Coalition, who is sponsoring the protest. "We wanted people to know that this is where he is and this is what he's done so they can make informed decisions about whether they want to support his practice."
Animal rights advocates hope that the attention to the Cecil's killing will lead to concrete political actions and more awareness about poaching.
"Of course our organization is concerned about the well-being of all animals, part of what made this particular case so personal for people is the fact that Cecil had a name, and he had an identity and that he was viewed as an individual," Rising said. "It's important for us to remind people that all of the animals in our world are individuals and they all deserve to live free of violence from human beings."
Edward Chidothe is a native of Zimbabwe now living in the Twin Cities. He said to many people from Zimbabwe, the lion is a symbol of southern Africa.
"It was beloved both as a mascot, it was a symbol people knew of, and it was a symbol of when you think about your home," Chidothe said. "It's both losing something you identify with your home, but also the way it was lost."
Others from Zimbabwe, Chidothe said, have questioned whether the locals who are currently facing charges will carry the full punishment for the killing of the lion while Palmer won't be held accountable.
"Some folks use analogies of colonialism," he said. "You have foreigners coming in and exploiting the resources and creating upheaval, and taking in a very violent manner and then disappearing with no accountability for the chaos it created."
Some online petitions have circulated calling for Palmer to be extradited to Zimbabwe to face poaching charges. Minneapolis Attorney Joe Tamburino said the United States and Zimbabwe have had an extradition treaty for felony-level crimes since the late 1990s.
"Zimbabwe would on their end, issue some sort of charge or warrant, and then ask the federal government here, I imagine through the State Department," Tamburino said. "Then they'd effect an arrest here in the United States and then get the individual to court here and then extradited to Zimbabwe."
Extradition is not an automatic process, Tamburino said. In a situation where the accused has the resources to hire attorneys, the extradition process can be especially long and complex.
"The individual would be able to say to our government, 'Look I'm an American citizen, I don't think I should be extradited for whatever the legal argument they're going to make,'" Tamburino said. "Then they'd get a fair hearing in court on that."
The federal government could reject extradition for a number of reasons including humanitarian or legal objections, but American citizenship or wealth don't automatically mean someone can avoid extradition.
"When you travel to another country, you should be absolutely sure you're obeying those country's rules and laws, because if you're not, and they have an extradition treaty with us, you could be in trouble," Tamburino said.
There are other possible legal repercussions facing Palmer, who did not respond to further requests for comment from MPR News.
Gov. Mark Dayton Wednesday weighed in on the killing of the lion calling it "horrible."
"I'm just so disgusted with that man. To shoot any lion but to lure a lion like that out of the preserve and shoot him, how could anybody think that's sport? It's just appalling."
Rep. Betty McCollum has said she is urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Justice to investigate whether Palmer violated any laws governing endangered species.
McCollum also told MPR News host Kerri Miller on Wednesday that she was working on legislation to tighten anti-poaching laws in the United States.
This dentist is a felon who was convicted of doing a similar act here in the US with a black bear. It’s why he was bow hunting instead of using a firearm.
Hadn’t heard this until now.
If true (not doubting you) his goose is cooked.
They’ll get bigtime MSM tv coverage. That’s all they care about.
Lots of images and video showing up over the last 48 hours of what is claimed to be the lion but try finding one showing a picture of the tracker/collar.
He's a felon who has done this before. I'll repeat it over and over.
I personally own some land across the road from a hunting club.
What typically happens is after paying all that money to the club, they still don't get their deer. So they cross the road onto my property and shoot a deer there. No trespassing signs? No problem. They paid their money and they gots to just shoots sumthin...
And the game warden catches them and gets every kind of story you can imagine, usually involving that they shot the animal at the club and it crossed the road. Amazingly without leaving any blood on the road.
2-3 times a year I'll drive by the property and there will be buzzards circling. There will be a deer carcass headless on the ground. I've found deer feeders too, I take them down and toss them in a dumpster.
Am I anti hunting? Nope. I don't personally go, it's too early in the morning on the weekend and I just don't feel like it. I have given friends and family permission to hunt the land but not in the past few years since I haven't been asked.
Enough with these saintly blessed hunters, there are too many scumbags.
Trusting unethical guides does not make someone a scumbag.
He’s done it before, he’s a scumbag.
And he’s as unethical as his guides.
He paid his fees and his bribes and still didn’t get his lion so he trolled one over from the Preserve and shot it with a bow since he’s a felon scumbag who’s not allowed to own a gun.
The animal suffered for 2 days before someone someone finally finished it off and he posed for his picture.
What a hero.
Prove it.
There are lots of articles online but you’re an idiot incapable of searching for them.
Enough. I’m not arguing this with you anymore.
Typical of a troll. You don't want to engage is discussion, just name calling.
He kills trees too?!?!
d;^)
His practice is closed down. Protesters are there for the MSM photo-op.
Maybe all that needs to happen is to name an aborted fetus (Child) “Cecil” and the Tree Huggin Nimrods might buy a clue.
“Much ado about nothing.”
Unfortunately it’s enough to destroy this man’s practice and possibly send him into bankruptcy.
Oh on that same thought, name all the poor folks that Islam beheads “Cecil”
We never know their names, so they can all be “Cecil”
His first mistake was to apologize to Media... DUMB
If there were any apologies to be made, make them to those that deserve them. Ignore the Media
Now he is screwed
Kinda like calling a Cop ... “There is no situation so bad that it cannot be made worse by calling the police”
//// There is no situation so bad that it cannot be made worse by talking to the Media////
He is a Dentist ... he is Freaking GUILTY !!!!!
(I hate going to the Dentist, I make them Hate me back so I don’t have to go as often)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.