Posted on 03/25/2005 6:52:59 AM PST by Pendragon_6
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.
What a thoughtless idiot.
This does Terri NO good.
OMG. This has got to stop.
What a freakin' loon. Guns don't save people, people save people.
I hope there is no more of this in the coming days.
With all of the media coverage 24/7 and the families/lawyers making media appearances, it was only a matter of time, and potentially may happen again, except this time someone WILL get hurt or killed.
Mentally-off attention-seeker. It had to happen. I doubt that will be the end of such behavior, either.
Judging by the keyword "HERO" added to this thread, there are people here who think this crazy, misguided person did the right thing. This insanity needs to stop! It's not helping Terri's cause.
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.
Never take a knife to a gun fight!
This is what you get when the rhetoric reaches the level it has. When so many people are screaming death-hell-and-the-grave nonsense all over the Internet, you WILL set off a few mental time bombs.
That the law and order conservatives have chosen to use children to make their point and endorsed violence to force their point has not been lost on the moderates in the country. It's appalling.
"Judging by the keyword "HERO" added to this thread, there are people here who think this crazy, misguided person did the right thing."
I just noticed that, and am adding the Admin Moderator to this message. Free Republic doesn't need that kind of nonsense.
Sorry I didn't think of it. Thanks.
Wow. What a dumbass...
Mystery: the nutter didn't get shot in the process.
If you want to do some good, why don't you steal some water?
Just like we were thinking. Nutjobs doing stupid things.
Someone is going to get hurt before this is over with I'm afraid.
maybe it should be 'never take a gun to a life fight'.
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