# Send Brian "Emmanuel" Mitchell to the firing squad **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 13, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044 "2003-03-13T05:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/41 "2003-03-13T19:09:22Z")
> [@](#): > > As far as his “mental condition”, it didn’t prevent him from kidnapping the girl and preventing her escape for months. “Unable to function without medication” my arse. I’ll spell it out for you since you are too dense to grasp the obvious. Insert the word “normally” between the words “Unable to function” and “without medication”. Comprehende’ snookums? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/42 "2003-03-13T19:13:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Clint in Wichita \* > \*\*The Palestinian children comment is for another thread. \*\* We had it already. You lost. ---
**Author:** ![Clint\_in\_Wichita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Clint\_in\_Wichita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clint_in_Wichita)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/43 "2003-03-13T19:18:08Z")
Barbarian, You can have any impression you like. Diane, IMO the guy should be imprisoned regardless. I’ve always disliked insanity pleas. The fact that so-and-so may have mental problems won’t help his future victims. He should get his counseling and meds while living among the general population in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Clint\_in\_Wichita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Clint\_in\_Wichita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clint_in_Wichita)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/44 "2003-03-13T19:19:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*We had it already. You lost. \*\* What did I lose? If anything, you’re the one backing a loser in that conflict. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/45 "2003-03-13T19:25:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Clint in Wichita \* > \*\*IMO the guy should be imprisoned regardless. I’ve always disliked insanity pleas. The fact that so-and-so may have mental problems won’t help his future victims. > > He should get his counseling and meds while living among the general population in prison. \*\* kept under control, no problem. living w/general population in prison while attempting to deal with **severe** psychological issues (generalization, not claiming anything specific re: this case) = huge problem. I’ve worked w/prisoners for 25 years, general population is not the place for those w/serious pysch problems. fortunately IME, those who run the prisons know this and make attempts to have them in different facilities. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/46 "2003-03-13T19:35:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Clint in Wichita \* > \*\*If anything, you’re the one backing a loser in that conflict. \*\* Jesus H. Christ alfuckingmighty on a bike, you really are dumber than a box of rocks, aren’t you? The “loser” that I’m “backing” is universal human rights. Strangely, just as a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, you are in a way correct - albeit for entirely the wrong reasons - human rights are currently on a losing streak in the Occupied Territories. ---
**Author:** ![Clint\_in\_Wichita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Clint\_in\_Wichita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clint_in_Wichita)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/47 "2003-03-13T19:38:22Z")
I guess Israelis on a bus have no rights. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/48 "2003-03-13T20:05:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Clint in Wichita \* > \*\*I guess Israelis on a bus have no rights. \*\* Of course they fucking do. However, your solution to terrorism in Israel is genocide of Palestinians. Which I oppose. You’re clearly too unintelligent to distinguish between opposing oppression and murder, and supporting terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/49 "2003-03-13T20:06:36Z")
What’s your point, Clint? ---
**Author:** ![Clint\_in\_Wichita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Clint\_in\_Wichita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clint_in_Wichita)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/50 "2003-03-13T20:13:14Z")
I didn’t bring this shit up. Some people are fucking crybabies that can’t ever let a crude comment go. I suppose the all-knowing jjimm has the solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict tucked away in his expansive brain, just waiting for the right moment to enlighten us all. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/51 "2003-03-13T20:22:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Clint in Wichita \* > **Some people are fucking crybabies that can’t ever let a crude comment go.** “Crude comment”? “Crybabies”? How the fuck old are you? Don’t you find _any_ relevance to the issue of your self-righteous hopes for an insane child abductor to be anally violated until they die, and your advocation of the wholesale slaughter of innocent children? Because I do. ---
**Author:** ![RobbieFal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c5a1d2/32.png) [@RobbieFal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobbieFal)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/52 "2003-03-13T20:59:06Z")
“He’s a crazy person and he didn’t even harm the kid (so I heard on CNN)” HE MARRIED HER!!! Do you not think that will screw her up for ever? “all of you want him drawn and quartered. He’s SICK!” So? Alot of sick people end up paying the price for their crimes. “I know it was a horrible thing for a kid to go through, and I know her parents were devastated. But the guy is A NUTCASE! Where’s your compassion?” Why the fuck should I care about a maniac who, no doubt, probably raped a 14 year old girl multiple times? That’s sorta like asking for compassion towards the bad guy. “Just understand him! Please!” “Someone take a match to that old piece of paper which says a person is innocent until proven guilty” The fact that he was seen multiple times around this girl and that he was arrested near her doesn’t mean anything in the “innocent” factor does it? I’d say the evidence leans towards guilt. “because our preacher RobbieFal has seen the light! This accused kidnapper is a demon!” His appearance just seems to be demonic, not to mention his actions. Sorta like a Utah Rasputin. Anybody who claims that God told him to marry a 14 year old girl is screwed in the head. “Who hears voices!” Like the ones that told him to go for a little girl “And must be killed immediately!” Nah, not immediately. The Utah Capital Punishment system is not that fast. “I mean, there’s no way that a young girl in Utah would ever willingly submit to a man’s will. Never!” I’ll ignore your claims that she willingly gave in and went along with him. Have you ever heard of an “Age of Consent”? It doesn’t matter if she consented, because it’s still a crime if he had sex with her. But, it is true that Mormon girls do submit to authority, especially the kind that promises to kill them. “All this is my subtle way of asking Robbiefal to justify his claims of polygamy and rape.” Polygamy: The man said that he was told to marry her. In fact, you might as well inquire into how long she was in braids since one rumor is that they’re a sign of this sort of thing (but, who knows). Not to mention the fact that the guy was an obvious cult leader. Rape: Elizabeth Smart was 14 and 15 at the time of this. Any sex between her and that man is Statutory Rape in the state of Utah, in the state of Georgia and in the State of California (the other two places being spots that she had went to with the man. Although, it is logical to think that she didn’t willingly do anything with her kidnapper. “do you really think he should be put before a firing squad? No shit?” Yes… It was an obviously disgusting crime. Just because he didn’t chop her up doesn’t mean he shouldn’t recieve a huge punishment. “The guy is mentally ill! He should be punished AND treated, not killed.” Treated? How long are you gonna keep him in an asylum? Until he appears to be well, and then he’ll do it again with another girl? As for being mentally ill. He wasn’t ill enough to get caught for months. To be mentally ill means that he would not have many rational thoughts. I don’t think his mental status will prohibit him from the Firing Squad. As for the Israel/Palestine crap. Knock it off. This is not the thread for that. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/53 "2003-03-13T22:17:17Z")
Look, you little bandwagon jumper-on-er, who died and made you judge and jury? I’d like to see the cites for the marriage thing. The kid wasn’t raped. Or physically harmed in any way. The guy is a nut. Get over yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/54 "2003-03-13T22:21:38Z")
> [@](#): > > To be mentally ill means that he would not have many rational thoughts. I don’t think his mental status will prohibit him from the Firing Squad. Ya think? Since when? I’ll give you a hint - there is no death sentence for the type of crime he committed. Unless a law is passed that allows juries and judges to hand down death sentences to kidnappers and/or child molesters, you are basically pissing in the wind and yapping your gob. Oh, and you’re still very ignorant on the subject of mental disabilities. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/55 "2003-03-13T22:41:50Z")
Fact: He broke into a 14 year old girl’s room in the middle of the night and took her away at gunpoint. He left no note, he didn’t make a phone call to her parents or to the police to let her know she was all right. That family lived in _hell_ for 9 months. That, my friends, is sufficient grounds to lock him up forever, IMO. And that isn’t even considering what, if anything, he did to Elizabeth. He’s a nutcase and a menace to society. Adjust his medication and send him back out on the streets? Not in my neighborhood. However, unlike RobbieFal, I don’t think he should be killed because he let her live. And that’s as merciful as I get for sick bastards who prey on minors. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/56 "2003-03-13T22:53:11Z")
**Pundit** just who the fuck is suggesting that the guy is given a script and sent back on the streets?? many of us are objecting to the OP’s call for execution (prior to trial, 'cause ‘there’s plenty of evidence’), but unless you can point me to a quote where some one says he should be released once his meds are on track, then I think you’re railing against the wind. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/57 "2003-03-13T22:58:34Z")
Well, shit. Why bother to talk. Just go get the pitchforks and the scythes and the torches and let’s go get it done. Don’t care if he’s crazy. Don’t care if the child was injured or not. Don’t care about any sense of proportion. Just string him up and get it over with. It might be mob justice but it’s still some sort of justice. This is just appalling. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/58 "2003-03-13T23:00:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diane \* > \*\*Oh, and you’re still very ignorant on the subject of mental disabilities. \*\* Why should it matter if he has a “mental disability”? The guy is evil _regardless_ of anything else. Period. And evil people do not deserve the gift of life. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/59 "2003-03-13T23:10:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crafter\_Man \* > \*\*Why should it matter if he has a “mental disability”? The guy is evil _regardless_ of anything else. Period. And evil people do not deserve the gift of life. \*\* A: the only things (so far) that he’s been even publically accused of (vs. in court) _do not have death penalty attached in Utah_. B. Why should it matter if he has a mental disability? well, for one, the issue was ‘mental illness’ not ‘mental disability’, and there’s a couple hundred years precedant for treating insane people differently under the law. C. “being evil” so far as I know, is not a specific crime in the US. , so if it’s all the same to you (and even if not), I’d rather focus on what the laws say. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044/60 "2003-03-13T23:16:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > \*\*so if it’s all the same to you (and even if not), I’d rather focus on what the laws say. \*\* If the law doesn’t see fit to execute this guy then (IMO) the law is wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-brian-emmanuel-mitchell-to-the-firing-squad/161044.md?page=4)