Originally Posted by Mary Jane:
Okay, this is actually a ponderism but it had to come from somewhere and if anyone would know, that would be you so here it goes. How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
I think someone is considered assassinated when they are killed for who they are and/or what they do. A guy who's Chief of Police could be off duty and riding downtown and get shot while he was stopped at the corner during a carjacking and the news people would say he was murdered. However, if it were time to elect a new police chief and some gunman shot the same type guy while he was making his speech, the same news people might say he was assassinated. But yeah, the word assumes the person has some authority. Assassination presumes that the act was premeditated and involves more than just ending the life of someone, it involves affecting a system [society, political situation, etc.] in some way. That's my take anyway.
