Posted on 03/25/2005 12:34:02 AM PST by ambrose
Posted on Fri, Mar. 25, 2005
Deputies: Man tried to steal gun to "rescue Terri Schiavo"
Associated Press
SEMINOLE, Fla. - A man was arrested after trying to steal a weapon from a gun shop so he could "take some action and rescue Terri Schiavo," authorities said.
Michael W. Mitchell, of Rockford, Ill., entered Randall's Firearms Inc. in Seminole just before 6 p.m. Thursday with a box cutter and tried to steal a gun, said Marianne Pasha, a spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Mitchell, 50, told deputies he wanted to "take some action and rescue Terri Schiavo" after he visited the Pinellas Park hospice where she lives, Pasha said.
The feeding tube that has kept Schiavo alive for more than a decade was removed March 18 over objections from her parents. Schiavo's husband has said his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially.
Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.
Randy McKenzie, the owner of Randall's Firearms, said Mitchell pulled out the box cutter and broke the glass on a couple of display cases.
"He told me if I wasn't on Terri's side then I wasn't on God's side, either," McKenzie told The Associated Press.
McKenzie said he then pointed his own gun at Mitchell and ordered him to lie on the ground. But Mitchell fled out the store's back door before police arrived, he said.
Mitchell was later arrested in a parking lot and was scheduled to appear in court Friday. He was being held on $125,000 bond on charges of attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault and criminal mischief, officials said.
It was not known if he had a lawyer.
Seminole is about 5 miles west of Pinellas Park.
Quote: The Terri Pitchfork Brigades are doing an awesome job making themselves look like lunatics all on their own.
Saw a woman on CNN who was rolling on the ground saying something about praying to get the devil out of the judges. Looked like she was in a epiletic fit. Not good for the religious people in this country.
To me a feeding tube is a machine but the issue reamins one of being allowed to do die if you wish to.
If there were paperwork to that effect, I would be 100% for letting her die. It's the lack of paperwork that turns this into a quagmire. I don't doubt that if she had the choice she would die rather than go through this.
Write your paperwork up no matter your position on the issue.
There is no need to get loopie over the matter - this poor fella was loopie.
Maybe not as impulsive as this; The "No Justice, No Peace" slogan still needs a modern upgrade for current use. The same perceived slavery to dictators exists.
I prefer the unarmed human wave approach.
A feeding tube is just that, essentially a length of plastic hose. It is no more "life support machinery," than an insulin syringe for a diabetic. The notions of viability is and independance are spurious. If the argument is that Terri cannot feed herself the very same can be said for a three year old...with out parents, the kid will, in all likelihood, starve to death...
Indeed, your diet at present is also dependent on machines and the labor of others. If it weren't for your refrigerator, the truck that hauls produce to the grocery store, the machine that packages your hotdogs, etc., you would have to completely and radically alter your diet and the amount of time you required to feed yourself. The whole *viability* argument is spurious.
If there existed paperwork signed by her asking for these actions to not be taken would it be okay to disconnect her?
To me that is the only reason for any disagreement on this topic. With that paperwork she should 100% be allowed to pass. Without it, it becomes much cloudier, and despite my feelings that there is no way that she would want to live like that, I'd vote for keeping her alive.
Part 2:
If there was no money alloted to pay for this, should the taxpayers be held as responsible? It would seem to me to be in contrast to the way most here think medical treatment and payment should be handled.
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