There are 36 comments.

1. Member
   Doug Watt

   @DougWatt

   10:02 AM EDT ⋅ Jun 20, 2017

   He attempted to steal the poster, there is no doubt about that. The reasons for stealing it, or the confession if you like was dreamed up by his interrogators to justify the harsh sentence he was going to receive. There is no way they were going to allow him to have a press conference without a careful rehearsal of what he was to say. In fact he states that he requested the press conference, which I find nonsensical as well.

2. Member
   Hypatia

   @

   10:10 AM EDT ⋅ Jun 20, 2017

   Arizona Patriot (View Comment):
   There is a detailed account of Otto Warmbier’s arrest, conviction, and confession at Wikipedia here.

   The church story, discussed by Hypatia above, was apparently part of his confession. The confession comes across as dubious to me, as it also says that he was motivated by a desire to join some UVA semi-secret society, and was manipulated into stealing the poster by the US administration.

   On the other hand, this does not prove that Mr. Warmbier did not steal a propaganda poster, perhaps only as a juvenile prank. It does seem odd that the North Koreans would randomly snatch a single US college student in a group of ten. So perhaps he did the crime, with no expectation that that he would have to do any time.

   I’m reminded of the Star Trek:TNG episode in which Wesley Crusher is sentenced to death for accidentally trampling some flowers while playing catch.

   Oh, thanks to you and Doug Watt.  I didn’t realize it was part of his “voluntary confession” while a Nork prisoner.  No credence due, then.

3. Inactive
   Lazy_Millennial

   @LazyMillennial

   1:01 PM EDT ⋅ Jun 20, 2017

   For anyone interested, @bethanymandel of the LadyBrains Podcast suggests donating to help North Korean refugees reach safety. They, like Warmbier, are victims of this evil psychostate.

4. Member
   JcTPatriot

   @

   6:39 PM EDT ⋅ Jun 20, 2017

   There is nothing I can do about it if these words upset you.

   Everyone, all over the planet Earth, knows that North Korea is a terrible place to be.

   I vehemently question the motives of a person who wants to go there for any reason. I also vehemently question the politics of someone who thinks visiting a Communist country is a good idea, such as Bill Clinton visiting Russia.

   I believe this man was either a full-blooded communist, or had strong communist leanings. He was already visiting China as a “tourist” when he decided to be a “tourist” in North Korea. He already had a very good idea of how people are treated in both those countries when he decided to willfully break their laws.

   Did he deserve to be murdered? Of course not. But he made his choices – China, North Korea, and theft – and he must have understood the probable reactions to his actions. It is purely my opinion that this was a bad American, and I will not speak in his defense.

5. Inactive
   Cato Rand

   @CatoRand

   8:49 PM EDT ⋅ Jun 20, 2017

   JcTPatriot (View Comment):
   There is nothing I can do about it if these words upset you.

   Everyone, all over the planet Earth, knows that North Korea is a terrible place to be.

   I vehemently question the motives of a person who wants to go there for any reason. I also vehemently question the politics of someone who thinks visiting a Communist country is a good idea, such as Bill Clinton visiting Russia.

   I believe this man was either a full-blooded communist, or had strong communist leanings. He was already visiting China as a “tourist” when he decided to be a “tourist” in North Korea. He already had a very good idea of how people are treated in both those countries when he decided to willfully break their laws.

   Did he deserve to be murdered? Of course not. But he made his choices – China, North Korea, and theft – and he must have understood the probable reactions to his actions. It is purely my opinion that this was a bad American, and I will not speak in his defense.

   He was like 19.  Do you have any idea how stupid most 19 year olds are? (Boys no less.  The worst.  They’re walking bags of hormones with underdeveloped frontal lobes.)  And one of my iron clad rules of life is never to put down to malevolence that which is easily explained by stupidity.

6. Member
   BD1

   @

   6:20 AM EDT ⋅ Jun 21, 2017

   Liberals were more concerned with the treatment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed than Otto Warmbier.