Florida’s “stand your ground” law is legalized casual murder for the socially advantaged, isn’t it? They’ve already demonstrated that a gun-toting wannabe can pick a fight with an innocent black person, shoot him, then claim self-defense.
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The thing is, I think this would pass a justifiable homicide in almost every state. The only thing Stand Your Ground does is provide an excuse for paranoid racists to get trigger happy.
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Before we even get to the question of racism, the ‘stand your ground’ law seems to give malicious actors permission to lethally defend themselves from violence they themselves have provoked. I grew up in Massachusetts where you had a duty to flee violence when possible. Sure, it lacks machismo, but then, that’s probably for the best.
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If its a Prius, (or any similar hybrid) he didn’t have to turn off the ignition. The engine stops when you stop, and you start moving under electric power.
In fact, you pretty much can’t turn off the ignition without shutting down the vehicle entirely, and even that might not work. A friend of mine was doing an oil change on one once when the car decided it was time to start the engine…
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I’m insufficiently versed in the law to say for certain what the intent of America’s assorted Castle Doctrines were, but the practical application has been the same as most laws: racist, privileged and facilitating the abuse of power. I agree with @agies though in that an equitable legal regime would protect actual self-defense without needing extraordinary laws to do so.
I also agree with you in that machismo is baked into our culture from top to bottom, ultimately to the detriment of us all. I believe it stems from cultures built on unchallegened insecurities.
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Or when black people shoot nobody.
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He didn’t. Here’s a video that gives a more detailed account…
Boek was texting with Mazzarella, not Westlake (the Uber driver Boek hunted down and threatened to shoot).
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FYI - That was a bullshit verdict and fortunately it got retried and plead out for timed served and was released in 2015.
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Good, but it still demonstrates the racism endemic to the US justice system.
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I agree. The poor and minorities get the short stick of the law way too often.
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Either you believe people have a right to terminate threats, or you don’t.
Current populations tend to split on this issue in ways that benefit sociopathic corporations, corrupt politicians, and bad religions.
One shot, minimal unnecessary damage. Highly admirable conduct.
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I don’t know about florida, but in my state, all you need in order to carry a concealed weapon accessible in a vehicle is the weapon, and a $45 permit the state is obligated to issue as long as you pass a background check.
That means literally anyone who appears to be an adult could credibly threaten to shoot me with a gun they legally have at hand at any moment.
It’s not like guns are rare in america. Gun violence happens all the time.
Maybe if this were england or germany you could afford to dismiss someone threatening to shoot you. After all, it’s absurdly expensive to be any kind of gun owner there. It’s pretty much cheap as dirt to be one in the US, and pretty much legal all the time everywhere.
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Newsflash!
Some cops are idiots.
I see why the guy got shot, he was being extremely aggressive.
But… if the driver had not had a gun, he would have just driven off. No death, no court, no Uber ride from Hell, No Traumatized passenger, No guilt, No funeral, no $$,$$$$ of tax dollars spent on court.
How is what happened a good thing!?!?
This reinforces my theory that guns warp your mind. There’s a sample on a record of some preacher or something talking and he says “When you have a gun, you are either thinking of killing somebody, or somebody killing you” The more I think about it, the more I think this simple statement is true.
Only people under the influence of guns see a positive here, because secretly they have all fantasized about killing someone. That’s what you do when you have a gun ( talk to gun owners and it usually doesn’t take long for them to pain some picture that involves getting the opportunity to pull the trigger )
In the meantime, be careful in Florida, and watch the F@&# out for Floridaman!!! https://boingboing.net/2018/03/06/atlanta-explains-florida-man.html
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There are 393 Million guns in the US. You think “I have a gun” is somehow an implausible threat?
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She should have been found not guilty, because unlike Zimmerman who stalked poor Trayvon and then murdered him, she was actually defending herself and didn’t kill anyone. It’s still a fucking travesty, if you ask me.
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Sideswiping the guy would absolutely be in my escape plan. He claims to have a gun, but his hands are empty and it’s not obviously in a holster so he probably can’t whip it out instantly. Knocked down in the middle of the road he’s going to take a second to get back in his truck, meanwhile you are speeding away to the nearest populated area while calling the cops.
The equation would be completely different if the guy already had his gun out, but in that case it would have been pretty ballsy for the driver to even attempt to shoot him.
I’m just saying that from my armchair quarterback perspective nobody had to die in that video.
or, more likely, crazy guy in truck speeds after them (still thinking his GF is in that Uber, which she wasn’t) and ends up causing an accident which could easily result in death.
Death of the aggressor in this case is better than death of two random citizens (Uber driver and passenger).
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You could speculate a lot of scenarios…
Wait till the guy gets further from his truck then split.
Hit the guy with the car, violent but less lethal.
Use your damn cell phone and call the damn police.
Drive to the police station.
Honk the horn and act crazy.
De-escalate the situation with words ( increasingly a foreign concept )
We’ll never know.
Now to test my theory… (That gun owners are sympathetic to these stories because they fantasize about getting to pull the trigger.)
Are you a gun owner @cb78?
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No, I’m not a gun owner, never have been.
My question to you is why should the burden be on the victim here and not the aggressor? He threatened multiple people’s lives. Shooting him was the most reliable method of neutralizing the threat to completely innocent victims (Uber driver and passenger). Any off the other scenarios you list COULD increase the likelihood the innocents are assaulted/shot by the (now dead) nut.
Bottom line, if you threaten someone and say you have a weapon to kill them, don’t be surprised if they believe you and then shoot you first.
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