The US Federal Government is determined to execute Lezmund Mitchell today despite the Navajo Nation's request to spare him from the death penalty. ("Trump prepares to execute Lezmund Mitchell") There's something wrong with this situation at many different levels.
Two Navajo men were convicted of murdering a Navajo grandmother and her 9-year-old grandchild and stealing their vehicle. When we go down a reservation road, there are many hitchhikers with their thumbs out asking for a ride. Most people don't stop because of violent hitchhiker stories such as the grizzly murders that Mitchell was involved in. According to Mitchell, he did not commit the killings, Johnny Oslinger (his accomplice) committed the killings. But his accomplice is not facing the death penalty because he was a minor at the time of the murders. For some reason, minors committing gruesome murders do not get the death penalty in America. They only get life in prison. But Mitchell is scheduled for execution this evening at 6:00 PM Eastern Time because he was the "adult" in the crime. Oslinger will continue to live with life in prison.
At the international level, the US and the Navajo Nation are suppose to have a "nation-to-nation" relationship. But in Mitchell's situation, the US rejects the "nation-to-nation" relation by ignoring the Navajo Nation's request to spare Mitchell of the death penalty. By doing so, the US government weakens itself as a nation whose word and laws are not worth believing and honoring. One famous judge said "great nations, like great men, should keep their word." The US passed the Federal Death Penalty Act promising not to impose the death penalty on tribal members whose tribes opt-out of the death penalty. By finding a loophole in the law, the US disregards its promise, and its relations with other sovereigns. If carried out by the end of the day, the execution will create an awkward situation between American and tribal leaders. It will be hard to regard the US as a great nation. What are the tribal leaders suppose to do?
As for Mitchell, one perspective that has not really been heard is the voice of Daniel Lee, the father of the slain girl. In one interview, Lee stated that he supports Mitchell's execution for depriving him of of his daughter.
"On Sunday, the Associated Press ran a report on the enduring impact of the crime on the community, which quoted Daniel Lee. “He took my daughter away, and no remorse or anything like that,” Lee said about Mitchell. “The Navajo Nation president, the council, they don’t speak for me. I speak for myself and for my daughter.”"
In fact, Lee said that he was going to attend the execution in person in Indiana. Our Navajo leaders have yet to address Lee's statement.
