# US response to diplomat's killing in Libya **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 13, 2012, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-response-to-diplomats-killing-in-libya/634602 "2012-09-13T09:27:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-response-to-diplomats-killing-in-libya/634602/41 "2012-09-14T17:56:39Z")
They could. Consulates are _not_ foreign soil. There are, however, conventions and protocol to follow and cops don’t bust up embassies. To elaborate, we do not have extraterritoriality. While it may be illegal and punishable by death to be gay in Iran, if someone without diplomatic immunity murdered a gay man at the Iranian embassy in NYC, that person could and would still be charged with a crime as the crime happened in the US, not Iran. That we wouldn’t violate the embassy’s security by barging in with cops is a separate and distinct matter. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-response-to-diplomats-killing-in-libya/634602/42 "2012-09-14T17:58:23Z")
> [@Duke\_of\_Rat](#): > > I thought the reason Julian Assange was able to remain in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London was because it is Ecuadorian territory. > > Going by your theory, the British could just kick the door in and arrest him. What **FinnAgain** said. Countries try to be respectful of the embassies of other nations, but that doesn’t mean it’s not actually part of the host country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-response-to-diplomats-killing-in-libya/634602.md?page=2)