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.
Fanatics are dangerous, no matter the cause they advocate.
When the Justice system does not provide justice, what are the options? Does not a father have a responsibility to protect his family? And what about us sitting on the side lines?
Anybody from the Coalition of the Non-Sane suddenly stop posting? (c8
This does Terri NO good
Really!
He should have bought himself a gun years ago.
Makes one feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?
You mean Randall Terry. It's Alan Keyes, Randall Terry, and Larry Klayman down there together, I think.
Oh, I see now that you got it...I should have kept reading (as usual). : )
Stealing the gun does terri no good. Defending an innocent and helpless woman against agression by any means necessary is noble.
Your response is eloquent, but has little to do with your contention that Terri's situation will "divide" the Republican Party.
It does from my own, local observations. There were a lot of rebublican supporters in Pinellas County. Because of this fiasco, there are a lot fewer. By pandering to the preo-life crowd at the expense of other important federal and state jurisdictional issues, the Republicans have miscalculated big time. They thought they were throwing a bone to the pro-life group, but it wasn't big enough. Some people, even here on FR, want state troopers or federal marshals to come in and snatch Terri away. Jeb and George have the authority to do that and if they don't, the pro-life group gets dissappointed. On the other hand, you have other republicans that fear that such an abuse of executive power crosses the line into totalitarianism - the very thing many conservatives hate about big government. If they can snatch Terri, then what will stop a governor or a president from snatching a politican opponent? If this is the true face of the Republicans, many people that helped put them in office will pull them out. If you look at even further, they may have specifically designed the state and federal laws so they would be thrown out or manpulated by the courts so there would be no change in Terri's situation. Create legislation for one part of your base knowing it will get thrown out in court and that satisfies the rest of your base. In this case, I think it's upset both sides of the base.
It's possible, just possible that they were acting with the best of intentions in a situation where they found themselves helpless, and as such, over time their constituents will rally around them at reelection time.
The over-emotional fringe will never sway the staid conservatives that comprise the foundation of the support structure of the Republican Party.
Dumb tactic. He's lucky he wasn't killed by the shop owner. They almost ALWAYS carry.
Grow up.
A lot of people on this thread have commented on how the extremists are harming the conservative cause. You have made yourself one of those extremists, by comparing our justice system to Nazi Germany.
I'm not saying our judicial system is something to be admired. Some judges have made some horrible decisions that they should never have had the power to make. But there are also other judges who do the right thing, who make wise decisions, who punish criminals harshly and protect the innocent.
Do you realize the extent of what the Nazis did? Their regime systematically exterminated millions of innocent people. There were Nazi officials whose job it was to wake up in the morning and say, "How can I kill as many Jews as possible today?" I don't think that judges, even activist judges, obsess over exterminating people.
You and your Nazi comparisons, along with that other wackjob who compared Terri to Jesus, are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
If he were shot it would have been a misfortune. If he were then saved, it would be a tragedy (pace Disraeli)
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.