# In calling for the assassination of Julian Assange, did Palin et al. commit a crime? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2011, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210 "2011-01-11T09:43:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/1 "2011-01-11T09:43:03Z")
Wikileaks is currently making hay out of the fact that several prominent figures on the right of American politics called for the assassination of Julian Assange. Specifically, they feel that a crime has been committed. At the time of the remarks, I believe Assange, an Australian citizen, was resident in Britain. Specifically: In calling for the assassination/murder of Assange, did Palin commit a crime by American standards. In calling for the assassination/murder of Assange, did Palin commit a crime by British standards? If I’m based in Country X and call for the murder of Individual Y who is current in Country Z over the Internet, where was the crime committed, if there was one? Have international agreements, treaties and legal cases sufficiently adjusted to the Internet that an answer to this can definitively be given, or not? (Yes, I’m aware that, even if technically a crime was committed, the chances of anything coming to pass legally are extremely slim.) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/2 "2011-01-11T12:13:29Z")
Well, part of the question would be if the person making the statement has it within their scope to actually set in motion such an assasination, or someone could reasonably foresee that sequence of events (e.g. king Henri saying \*“will no one rid me of this troublesome cleric” \*in front of loyal lackeys), or else were they just lashing out wishing someone were dead, taking advantage of how the SDMB Mods do not run the Real World. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/3 "2011-01-11T12:28:36Z")
I missed it. What exactly did she say and in what context? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/4 "2011-01-11T13:30:49Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Well, part of the question would be if the person making the statement has it within their scope to actually set in motion such an assasination, or someone could reasonably foresee that sequence of events (e.g. king Henri saying \*“will no one rid me of this troublesome cleric” \*in front of loyal lackeys), or else were they just lashing out wishing someone were dead, taking advantage of how the SDMB Mods do not run the Real World. Correct, its just dumb luck that Sarah’s crosshairs led a random lunitic to shoot her targeted foe in Arizona. It’s not like any of her followers are lunitics that she has zombie queen control over. Assange has nothing to worry about, the guys just overly parinoid and should just learn to trust our leaders. [Hunt him down like a terroist?](http://www.newser.com/story/106544/is-palin-condoning-assange-assassination.html) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/5 "2011-01-11T13:43:26Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > [Hunt him down like a terroist?](http://www.newser.com/story/106544/is-palin-condoning-assange-assassination.html) Thanks, but is there a transcription of whatever she said, complete and in context? Selected quotes are easy to manipulate. I’m no fan of hers, but with accusations like this it’s easy to fling around a lot of fluff without getting to substance. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/6 "2011-01-11T14:02:38Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Thanks, but is there a transcription of whatever she said, complete and in context? Selected quotes are easy to manipulate. > > I’m no fan of hers, but with accusations like this it’s easy to fling around a lot of fluff without getting to substance. I’m no fan either, but you are wise to be skeptical. It is being misrepresented. The quote was from a typical blame laying piece on an issue guaranteed to resonate with her support base, but not a call to assassination IMHO. The full text is [here](http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=465212788434). She said: “Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?” Criticizing the administration for NOT carrying out an assassination isn’t illegal even if it could be proven that was what she meant unambiguously by “pursuing with urgency”. OTOH it looks like the Calgary police opened an investigation into a political analyst who made much more[specific comments](http://www.suite101.com/content/calgary-police-investigate-flanigans-call-for-death-of-assange-a317702) as a guest on a Canadian political talk show. In that case he said “should be assassinated, actually. I think Obama should put out a contract and maybe use a drone or something.” ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/7 "2011-01-11T14:04:00Z")
Sarah’s not denying what she said or that she was quoted out of context. What she does deny is the interpetation of it as a call for an assassination. And of course it’s all about interpetation isn’t it? That the crux with “code” terms. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/8 "2011-01-11T15:08:56Z")
:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/9 "2011-01-11T15:17:35Z")
Did she mean “hunt down” as in “find and arrest” or as in “kill him”? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/10 "2011-01-11T15:23:45Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Did she mean “hunt down” as in “find and arrest” or as in “kill him”? She didn’t say “hunt down.” **Crazyhorse** has the actual statement. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/11 "2011-01-11T15:48:47Z")
OK, thanks for the replies. This is what I thought; Palin has committed no crime. But [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36xEvVnF2I) Fox pundit is more ambiguous (abridged transcription): > [@](#): > > The way to deal with this is pretty simple. We got special ops forces, I mean, a dead man can’t leak stuff. This guy is a traitor, a treasonist, and he has broken every law of the United States. The guy ought to be—and I’m not for the death penalty, and if I’m not for the death penalty, there’s only one way to do it—illegally shoot the son of a bitch. Aside, can anybody attempt to answer the final part of my question? Supposing a crime has been committed (and I presume that American and British law in this regard is so similar, that supposing in the abstract whether a crime has been committed or not makes sense in this case), where exactly has the crime been committed? This is a question I’ve wondered for some time, independent of the Wikileaks stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/12 "2011-01-11T16:48:34Z")
I’m no fan of Palin’s but this accusation is ridiculous. Crazyhorse has the quote - Palin said Assange should be “pursued with urgency” and there was nothing in the broader context of the article to hint that this was a codeword for killing him. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/13 "2011-01-11T16:48:51Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > This Fox pundit is more ambiguous (abridged transcription): > > _This guy is a traitor, a treasonist, and he has broken every law of the United States._ _bleakly_ Is Fox News under the impression that a non-national can commit treason against a nation ? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/14 "2011-01-11T16:50:04Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > OK, thanks for the replies. This is what I thought; Palin has committed no crime. But [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36xEvVnF2I) Fox pundit is more ambiguous (abridged transcription): For context, it might be worth noting that that particular Fox pundit was Walter Mondale’s campaign manager. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/15 "2011-01-11T16:52:30Z")
> [@](#): > > This guy is a traitor, a treasonist, and he has broken every law of the United States. Well, if somebody’s a traitor and a treasonist, what are you gonna do? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/16 "2011-01-11T17:01:47Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m no fan of Palin’s but this accusation is ridiculous. Crazyhorse has the quote - Palin said Assange should be “pursued with urgency” and there was nothing in the broader context of the article to hint that this was a codeword for killing him. Except for the comparison to Osama Bin Laden, who they are definitely intending to kill, if they ever find him. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/17 "2011-01-11T17:25:07Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Except for the comparison to Osama Bin Laden, who they are definitely intending to kill, if they ever find him. Meh…OBL’s been in CIA custody for years, for the purpose of recording scary boogeyman-style messages every election cycle. Now that GWB & Co. are history, the Obamaistas don’t know what to do with him – last I heard, they’ll probably give him a recording contract and secretly let him live out his natural life on Svalbard. My post is my cite. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/18 "2011-01-11T17:55:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m no fan of Palin’s but this accusation is ridiculous. Crazyhorse has the quote - Palin said Assange should be “pursued with urgency” and there was nothing in the broader context of the article to hint that this was a codeword for killing him. Exactly. The political left seems to have developed an obsessive-compulsive hatred of Sarah Palin. The venom being spewed at her is really over-the-top. It’s a lot like how the right hated Bill Clinton, really. The Fox guy was an idiot to call Assange a traitor. Assange owes no loyalty to the United States, so he can’t “betray” it. Still, you could very appropriately call him an enemy of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/19 "2011-01-11T18:11:12Z")
In writing the thread title, did the OP committ defamation. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210/20 "2011-01-11T18:24:51Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > In writing the thread title, did the OP committ defamation. Depends what Palin he’s talking about; there’s more than one, and I’m not just talking about Sarah’s immediate or extended family. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-calling-for-the-assassination-of-julian-assange-did-palin-et-al-commit-a-crime/567210.md?page=2)