romney_sept_2012_campaign
Mitt Romney Reuters

This week, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been using the story of a former Navy SEAL who ran to defend the U.S. consulate in Libya when he heard it was under attack -- and was subsequently killed in the chaos -- as an example of the courage of Americans, even in the face of adversity.

But the mother of the SEAL in question is asking him to stop.

In a stump speech the candidate reportedly delivered in Ohio as recently as Wednesday morning, Romney recalled how he met the victim, Glenn Doherty, while on the campaign trail this year. Doherty, 42, had reportedly been living overseas in Libya after his time with the military ended, and he was safely stationed about a mile away when from the consulate he heard about the attack on the site in Benghazi.

"We chatted for a while, he came from Massachusetts, where I had been governor," Romney said at an Ohio town hall event on Tuesday. "You can imagine how shocked I was to learn he was one of the two former Navy SEALs killed in Benghazi."

On Wednesday morning, NBC's Boston affiliate reported that Doherty's mother, Barbara Doherty, thought Romney was taking advantage of her son's death by invoking his name on the campaign trail.

"I don't trust Romney," Doherty told WHDH 7. "He shouldnt' make my son's death part of his political agenda. It's wrong to use these brave young men, who wanted freedom for all, to degrade Obama."

After failing to issue a response to WHDH, Buzzfeed reports a Romney campaign aide said the candidate would not continue to tell the story.

"Governor Romney was inspired by the memory of meeting Glenn Doherty and shared his story and that memory. We respect the wishes of Mrs. Doherty, though," Romney spokesman Kevin Madden told the website.

Libya