Public Official Defends Death Penalty Tweet

Wednesday, 12 January 2011 | by Pat's Picks

A public official from Ohio is under fire for a series of tweets he sent out in the wake of the Arizona shooting rampage last weekend. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Dusty Rhodes, who is a county auditor, took to Twitter to call for the immediate death penalty, without a trial, of Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged Arizona shooter, arguing that it would save taxpayers millions of dollars.

In one of his messages, Rhodes put it somewhat more bluntly, tweeting: “Only question now is whether to use a firing squad or a good stout rope for the shooter. Either one should be soon.” When questioned by the Enquirer, Rhodes didn’t back down from his position: “I thought the same thing about guys like Mark David Chapman, Sirhan Sirhan, and John Hinckley.”