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In Lethal Weapon 2, the bad guy — if memory serves, a diplomat from South Africa — commits a bunch of crimes. Then, as he's getting away on a yacht, he taunts the policemen characters played by Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, waving a diplomatic passport around and saying "Diplomatic Immunity!". At which point, the character played by Glover promptly shoots him in the head, using a clearly legal response of "... just been revoked".

Now, this being a Hollywood film, they rode off into the susnset sequel; but what would the likely consequences have been, both for them as police officers as well as for United States, if this had happened in real life?

I would especially prefer answers that reference specific actual precedents of a similar occurrence, or established formal rules.

Rodrigo de Azevedo
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user0306
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1 Answers1

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The consequences for the US are perhaps better addressed at Politics; if you're really interested in those consequences, you can re-post this question there.

For the police officer shooting a diplomat, the officer may be charged under state law, whatever is normal for an incident of this type; it doesn't matter whether the person is a US citizen or a diplomat or any other kind of alien, regardless of immigration status or lack thereof.

If the person is a diplomat, however, the officer is also liable to be prosecuted under federal law, namely 18 USC 1116, which makes it a crime to kill, among others, a "foreign official"; the definition of that term includes

any person of a foreign nationality who is duly notified to the United States as an officer or employee of a foreign government or international organization, and who is in the United States on official business, and any member of his family whose presence in the United States is in connection with the presence of such officer or employee.

The characterization of the response "just been revoked" as "clearly legal" is inaccurate; a police officer has no power to revoke diplomatic immunity. In fact, only the diplomat's own country can waive this immunity. The United States cannot do so; it can only expel the diplomat.

phoog
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