Anti-War Protester Burns Himself Alive In Chicago

CHICAGO — Malachi Ritscher envisioned his death as one full of purpose.

He carefully planned the details, mailed a copy of his apartment key to a friend, created to-do lists for his family. On his Web site, the 52-year-old experimental musician who'd fought with depression even penned his obituary.

At 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 3 _ four days before an election caused a seismic shift in Washington politics _ Ritscher, a frequent anti-war protester, stood by an off-ramp in downtown Chicago near a statue of a giant flame, set up a video camera, doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire.

Aglow for the crush of morning commuters, his flaming body was supposed to be a call to the nation, a symbol of his rage and discontent with the U.S. war in Iraq.
done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country."

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[edit on 26/11/2006 by Mirthful Me]

foverver I love hawaii love america

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[edit on 26-11-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

The fact that this Guys suicide went virtually unnoticed within the media has to say something.
It is a sad World we live in. This Guy did something that he thought was right. I have to say, he died in vain. His act will do nothing to deter what is going on in the Gulf.
Its a shame no one could have convinced him before he did this.

Tragic props to an earnest man.

Now if only the rest of the America Haters can see the virtue in this depressed mans heart they may follow his lead.

Thats horrible, He should have gotten mental help earlier.
He could have done more alive, than dead.

On the other hand, like I said in the similar thread.

Notice, that in his protest, he did not go to a downtown market, and blow himself, and a bunch of others, to smithereens.

Extremist muslims are the ones that can learn from this incident.

Originally posted by Gatordone
Tragic props to an earnest man.

Now if only the rest of the America Haters can see the virtue in this depressed mans heart they may follow his lead.

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[edit on 26-11-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Originally posted by spacedoubt


Notice, that in his protest, he did not go to a downtown market, and blow himself, and a bunch of others, to smithereens.

Extremist muslims are the ones that can learn from this incident.

Ouch............
But to be honest, that is a somewhat fair representation of what happens.

Originally posted by spacedoubt
Thats horrible, He should have gotten mental help earlier.
He could have done more alive, than dead.

On the other hand, like I said in the similar thread.

Notice, that in his protest, he did not go to a downtown market, and blow himself, and a bunch of others, to smithereens.

Extremist muslims are the ones that can learn from this incident.

I must say, well put.

a: Would probably make more of a statement

b: Would gain more support from Joe Iraqi

c: Would prob. gain more support from Joe America

d: If nothing else... less heartless extremists.


This war seems to hold nothing but destruction, much like most of the other wars.

I have to say I'm pretty disgusted by the callousness of some of the posts in this thread.

The guy actually left a very cogent and moving "suicide note" on his website. You can find the full version here. One of his rather good rationales was that he had only one death and he wanted to make it a good one.

Ours, as he says, is a self-obsessed and shallow culture. The real tragedy of this man's death is that it has been ignored so comprehensively by the mass media, probably because it's far easier to marginalise it and write the guy off as a depressive nutcase than to listen to his arguments. Does no-one remember the Buddhist monks who self-immolated outside US Embassies to protest the Vietnam War? I suppose you would write them all off as "depressive nuts" too? I find this statement very truthful and courageous.

What is one more life thrown away in this sad and useless national tragedy? If one death can atone for anything, in any small way, to say to the world: I apologize for what we have done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country. I was alive when John F. Kennedy instilled hope into a generation, and I was a sorry witness to the final crushing of hope by Dick Cheney's puppet, himself a pawn of the real rulers, the financial plunderers and looters who profit from every calamity; following the template of Reagan's idiocracy.

It's a pity that those people who wrap themselves in the flag to justify visiting chaos and murder on other countries haven't the integrity to see what a genuine sacrifice Malachi Ritscher made.

Originally posted by rich23
people who wrap themselves in the flag

"IN Nothing We Trust" I do like that reply! All I can say is more power to them. I will buy 10,000 flags of the USA and ship them to Iran if 10,000 people will burn them like that! That is GOOD stuff!

I think all the points I made about callousness and self-obsession have been amply borne out.

Thanks!

Originally posted by rich23
The real tragedy of this man's death is that it has been ignored so comprehensively by the mass media, probably because it's far easier to marginalise it and write the guy off as a depressive nutcase than to listen to his arguments.

Or perhaps because they don't want to reward such terrible and tragic behavior by promoting them to others; others who may be looking for a "cause" or "purpose" to justify their own psychotic wants and needs.


[edit on 28-11-2006 by WestPoint23]

I have had one previous opportunity to serve my country in a meaningful way - at 8:05 one morning in 2002 I passed Donald Rumsfeld on Delaware Avenue and I was acutely aware that slashing his throat would spare the lives of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocent people. I had a knife clenched in my hand, and there were no bodyguards visible; to my deep shame I hesitated, and the moment was past.

www.savagesound.com...

Clearly, this was a deeply troubled man.

I feel for him because we had a lot in common, but alas, his mental illness got the best of him.

In this day and age, mental health should be better understood by the public, so that tragedies like this could be avoided.

I would like to be sympathetic, but after a couple of days turning this around in my mind, I keep coming back to the simple truth:

One less moonbat to worry about!

Sorry, but I can't bring myself to have any feelings for this person.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

I have had one previous opportunity to serve my country in a meaningful way - at 8:05 one morning in 2002 I passed Donald Rumsfeld on Delaware Avenue and I was acutely aware that slashing his throat would spare the lives of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocent people. I had a knife clenched in my hand, and there were no bodyguards visible; to my deep shame I hesitated, and the moment was past.

www.savagesound.com...

Clearly, this was a deeply troubled man.

And yet there are people who consider it would have been absolutely ok to assassinate Hitler. There is really no difference - Rumsfeld oversaw the invasion (and destruction) of Iraq on just as flimsy a pretext as any of Hitler's invasions, and has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

I don't think this is a case of mental illness. I think it's someone who actually had a proper moral view on the conduct of the leaders of his country.

And no-one has answered my point about the Buddhist monks who self-immolated to protest the Vietnam war. Were they, too, mentally ill?

That is a powerful and sad protest. I don't agree with taking your own life, there is no point in dying. But to feel so strongly that in protest you kill yourself (without killing others) that does say something. There are better ways of protesting but people should have paid much more attention to him before he died in such a tragic way.

People have done this before. Some have even been viewed burning themselves to death without even screaming (unimaginable)

That was a sad loss and a poinent statement. Too bad few in this jaded society cared.