To town's dismay, school shooter to be released (Jonesboro, ARK)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8894307/

Seven years after taking part in a schoolyard ambush where four students and a teacher were killed, Mitchell Johnson will walk out of a federal detention center Thursday.

His impending release has this northeast Arkansas town on edge, and many still question the fairness of releasing Johnson on his 21st birthday because of a now-closed loophole in the law.

Mitchell Wright, whose wife, Shannon, was killed in the attack, said he has tried to explain Johnson's release to his son, who was 2 when his mother died.

"He's told me, 'I don't think it's right he gets to go home to his momma and I only get to see my momma on videos,'" Wright said.

[MrBenchley]

1. Surprised the GOP doesn't run him for office....

Assault weapons and attacks on public schooling...he's another far right wing poster boy....

[Judi Lynn]

4. He was a real right-wing visionary.

What could be more right-wing distinguished?

[MrBenchley]

5. And he'll appeal to the "youth vote" (snicker)

The gun lobby can sign him up for their "I'm the NRA" ad campaign....maybe he can shill subscription for their gun magazine for kids (and yes, they've published one for years; what could go wrong with kids and guns?).

[benEzra]

8. He used a scoped bolt-action .30-06 hunting rifle (n/t)

[cssmall]

2. I remember exactly where I was when this occurred

I don't know how I feel about this; however, I do know of the very small amount of remorse and the very small amount of feelings this person had after his crime. But, if Huckabee could let Wayne DuMond out of jail, then he'll let this guy out.

[Blue_Tires]

3. i remember that case

what a nutbar

[onehandle]

6. Par-tay at NRA HQ!

Their long suffering brother in arms will soon be free!

[billbuckhead]

7. Imagine if a black kid did this to white people in the american south?

Death row?

[politicat]

9. He was 13 when he committed his crime.

He was tried as a juvenile, which was appropriate.

Yes, he screwed up, a lot bigger than most of us screw up at 13. However, there's a reason we treat juvenile crime differently than adult crime, and it is because the brain of a child works significantly differently than that of an adult. Moral reasoning, consequences, and long-term visualization are far less well developed in an adolescent than in an adult.

Comparisons have been made to Kip Kinkel (16, Springfield, Oregon) and Luke Woodham (17, Pearl, MS) but the big difference is that they were far closer to being adults than Mitchell Johnson was when he committed his crime.

If you RTA, he's not planning on going back to Jonesboro, and he's planning on entering a "helping" profession to help atone for his crime. (He's planning on becoming a minister.)

The responses so far in this thread are not pretty; I think the basic concept that children are not adults has been lost on many these days.

Personally, I don't want to go back to the bad old days when children were hung along with adults for petty crime, but charging an 11 and a 13 year old as adults would have been pretty much that.

[KamaAina]

10. He's planning on becoming a *minister*?!

I hear there's an opening for deacon at the BTK killer's church in Wichita. :evilgrin: Who else would have him?

[politicat]

14. Actually, he'd be good in a prison or troubled youth ministry.

Who better to help people who need the help than someone who has been there?

(N. B. I am an atheist, and have no real love for ministers or others who sell faith as a cure-all. However.... I also know that I don't speak the language of faith and thus would have a harder time getting through to someone for whom that is a big part of their lives or who need to make it a big part of their lives to counteract the bad parts of their lives. There are a few good things that motivation-by-faith can accomplish, and this is one of them. Just don't shove it down my throat.)

Now, if he becomes a televangelist, I may be prompted to pick up some fake blood and some water balloons.....

I'll withhold judgment until the boy shows what he plans to make of himself, and I don't think his mother's in danger. He didn't lash out at her before, and he's had time to "grow up."

Speaking from observation, the federal juvenile system is pretty good for rehabbing kids; better than Arkansas or another underfunded state.

[livinginphotographs]

15. When I referred to his mother being in danger

I meant from others trying to retaliate. Just clarifying...

[livinginphotographs]

11. I kind of agree with you.

I wouldn't want to be permanently defined by the stupid things I could've done when I was that age (probably not as bad, but definitely stupid and destructive).

And the idea that his mother could be in danger is appalling.

The article doesn't really give much info on how much he has been rehabilitated (if at all), so it is probably better to withhold judgment at this point.

[tabasco]

12. Keep him locked up.

I'm sorry but you kill five innocent people intentionally, I say throw away the key.

[slackmaster]

13. I agree with you tabasco

A minor who does something that evil is too much of a risk to allow back into society.

[nookiemonster]

16. I agree also.

No sympathy whatsoever for these transgressions. I believe that he was absolutely aware of the aftermath. He put alot of thought into this.