“I knew of many men being killed in Nauvoo by the Danites. It was then the rule that all the enemies of Joseph Smith should be killed, and I know of many a man who was quietly put out of the way by the orders of Joseph and his Apostles while the Church was there.

“It has always been a well understood doctrine of the Church that it was right and praiseworthy to kill every person who speaks evil of the Prophet. This doctrine was strictly lived up to in Utah…”

John D. Lee (Brigham Young’s adopted son and member of the Danites), Mormonism Unveiled (St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882), 284.