In his very first, highly controlled interview since killing Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe, Walter J. Palmer, DDS says he'll be returning to his dental practice on Tuesday.
The dental practice which found its doorway deluged with stuffed animals and Cecil tributes after Palmers actions were revealed, shut its doors soon after, but has since reopened. Palmer has been publicly unavailable since until this interview, but says he's been spending his time "like he would on his day off" with friends and family (see below where he reveals this is a lie).
He continues to claim ignorance about Cecil being an important and protected lion and claims all of his actions were "legal" - claims that were supported by his lawyer who was present throughout the interview.
His history of past hunting misdeeds seems to disagree with those claims.
Not helping Palmer, at least in the public’s perception, is his guilty plea in 2008 for misleading federal authorities about a bear he killed illegally in Wisconsin. He was put on probation and fined. He also was convicted of a misdemeanor for fishing without a license in Minnesota’s Otter Tail County. Sounds like a fine upstanding law abiding citizen, right? Palmer declined to address whether he would abide by any request, either informal or through extradition proceedings, to return to Zimbabwe to answer legal allegations. But wait, there's more. And here it comes: “I have a lot of staff members, and I’m a little heartbroken at the disruption in their lives,” said the casually dressed Palmer, calm and all business, during the back and forth as attorney Joe Friedberg and a public relations consultant flanked him in what the dentist said would be his only media availability. “And I’m a health professional. I need to get back to my staff and my patients, and they want me back. That’s why I’m back.” (bolding is mine)You knew that claims of victimization would be there, didn't you? It seems to be standard operating procedure for schmucks these days. And since not one person will feel the least bit sorry for HIM, he needs to work the "I'm the victim here" angle through others.
But wait, there's even more! After claiming not to be in hiding and spending his time the way he normally did on his days off, he went on to claim that he had to keep a low profile because of "safety issues".
“This has been especially hard on my wife and my daughter,” he said, at times with his forearms on the conference table and hands folded in front of him, other times leaning back, listening intently.“They’ve been threatened in the social media, and again … I don’t understand that level of humanity to come after people not involved at all.”
(bolding is mine)Seriously, people saying nasty things about you in social media isn't a threat to your family or employees. And, really, the whole "I'm scared" business looks pretty lame on a guy who goes out and kills big game animals for fun.
Sadly, it looks like there is no official action taking place despite earlier indications that Zimbabwe would request extradition. No US Federal agency or department has even contacted Palmer although his attorney did pre-emptively contact the US Attorney for Minnesota on Palmers behalf.
Returning to work will enable Dr. Palmer to continue to rake in all that sweet revenue he needs to plan his next big game hunting expeditions.
So, it looks like Dr. Palmer is free to continue his life of dentistry and big game hunting. Unlike Cecil, he'll have a happy ending.
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