What is your take on this guy? Not sure if his case was covered in the US, 'twas a while ago.
āProperty is Theftā. Are you kidding with posting this vile stuff? Martin lived a priviledged life, luxuriating and eating bonbons on a farm he didnāt earn (getting it via inheritance no less) while these poor Tinkers/Travellers are forced to er um tinker/travel around in caravans, eating hedgehog stew and liberating their necessities (grandfather clocks, heroin) at the risk of life and limb.
What should have happened is that Martinās farm should have been confiscated, sold, and the proceeds added on to the bounty on his head: thereās certainly no reason that Tinkers/Travellers themselves should have to foot the bill for Martinās bounty.
(sarcasm)
Thank you for the article. That was interesting, and informative.
This is the first Iāve heard of the case and I only know what I just read, quickly, off the wiki, but it seems like - damned if you do, damned if you donāt.
I wouldnāt want to live in fear and have my property stolen multiple times. Iāve casually heard about travellers setting up near neighborhoods and essentially terrorizing the residents for months and months on end with thieving, property damage, and property theft, and that there is no effective government deterrent - which is a really terrible situation. Would you say that is a generally true characterization and probably true in this case?
Things that bother me:
A) Martin is already breaking the law by possessing his shotgun, and I think such laws are antithetical to personal freedom. I disagree with the law but flouting laws shouldnāt be done lightly. It is hard to claim full innocence given that initial fact. The somewhat common American gun owner response in this case is ābetter to be judged by twelve than carried by sixā. But it is also hard to say if Martinās person was ever threatened and the use of deadly force was justified.
B) From the article it appears that Martin continued to pursue the burglars when they were fleeing. For my own personal ethics and the laws I live under (California, USA) deadly force is NOT warranted when there is no longer an imminent threat. That being said, these type of situations are extremely confusing and dynamic when they happen, weāll never know exactly what happened without video of everything and weāll never know what was running through Martinās mind. Iāve run through law enforcement simulators and the ability to make decisions in real time regarding whether to shoot or not are very very complex and difficult. (I am not law enforcement or military, just a personal training enthusiast) So I donāt feel like I can clearly tell if the shooting was justified or not.
C) Living with death threats ā sounds like it would be an awful existence, particularly when there is no allowance for defenseive tools (guns) and you are relying on living in hiding ļ
Iāve been fortunate enough in life to have enough financial security that I donāt live in a neighborhood with high crime statistics, if we had a traveler problem in the US and they were robbing my home I really am not sure where I would end up; I would most likely sell everything and try to move to a better area but again the traveler problem seems to not be solveable in that manner? Also ā it doesnāt solve the problem overall.
If there are any specific points you are wondering about that I didnāt address feel free to post back or PM me.
So you know, I was stationed near where this took place. Most of the locals were in very much support of him and what had happened. They were a group of roaming thieves that would hit many houses not just his.
You should understand a lot of people in the pubs would ask me if I had a āGunā. I usually would tell them yes, letting them wonder. I can also tell you that not once did I ever get into a brawl. Where I was living it was an almost expected night experience.
Yet everyone that started up with me (trying to start a fight) after realizing who I was, stopped and smiled, then usually we became great friends.
I can tell you I have also watched UK cops literally stand and wait while some one took a absolute brutal beating. Once I even got between the cops and the fight to stop it. The police officers in the UK are a very different lot than here in the US, they just said āMate, why did you do that?ā
This is what I really fear:
On a long drive to London, a high ranking prison official once explained the reasoning behind the Orwellian like state that was being built. He said āThere are criminals and their are not criminals, my job is to limit the ones thinking of going to the other sideā I said āYou mean your limiting the non criminals by having cameras to influence them from doing a crimeā He responded āItās not always that directionā
I started realizing that I was just gonna get tired and dirty and he was just enjoying it too muchā¦
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Since the beginning, Federalism has been and continues to be ultimately enforced by weapons that kill its opponents.
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