And according to the article, the father who falsely accused the Good Samaritan made no apologies - and the Good Samaritan says he won’t press charges.
IMHO, this was several factors at work: The father being a terrible ingrate and also conclusion-jumper+defiant+self-centered, and American society’s paranoia about grown men being near children, and also social media’s quickness to share and spread fearmongering.
I don’t think the father was all that wrong. He saw "this man with my daughter in his hands walking toward the parking lot. What would you do?”
In that situation I would have went to the parents and spectators and asked them if that was their child. Not lead the kid to a parking lot or whatever.
The father sounds like a piece of work. "All that matters is that my daughter is home safely.” Well maybe, shithead, you should pay more attention, especially if you’re going to overreact.
I think it was a bad idea for him to pick up the child and carry her when she tried to pull away. I don’t blame the father for his reaction in that moment, seeing his resisting child being hauled toward a parking lot by a complete stranger. I think the best course of action would have been to loudly and publicly state that the girl was lost, and to stay with the crowd so that finding her parents became a group activity.
The Father’s behavior once it was established the guy wasn’t doing anything wrong, and the active smear campaign against him afterward, are just really beyond the pale.
I generally agree that the paranoia around strange men is out of control. I’m not sure this is the most perfect example.
Back when the Bush Doctrine was first being promoted, there was a Non Sequitur comic that showed two men in a jail cell with one of them saying “It turns out that when you or I do it, it’s called ‘felonious assault’.”
I get that the father thought he was protecting his kid, but he’s a jackass for not protecting his kid in the first place. And he’s a fucking asshole for not believing the guy even after witnesses and the police corroborated the Samaritan’s story. If the Samaritan’s reputation is truly besmirched by the actions of the father and the father’s suppoters, I hope he tries and is successful at seeking redress in court.
I can understand being alarmed at the situation, but beating the guy down and then doubling down on being wrong after the fact is beyond the pale. It’s too bad he’s not pressing charges against that inbred hick.
I really hate people who- when proven wrong- get even noisier as if they can convince everyone they were right all along.
Yeah, you guys are correct, the actions afterward are pretty horrible. But in the moment, it’s understandable to me (as a father) to react like that to a strange guy carrying his daughter around.
But yes, afterward should have been an apology or something, and definitely not a smear campaign.
Yes, the father acted like a jerk afterwards. And there is way too much panic over stranger-danger. But it was a 2 year old child who was lost. If I have to take the risk of getting punched in the face or have people on Facebook spread false rumors about it, so be it.
Hindsight is 20-20 - don’t pick the child up if she seems scared, just call 911 on your cell phone and tell them about it. But “sorry kid, people might think I am a child molester so you are on your own” - fuck that noise.
Nope. My kids are grown up now, I’ve done my parenting stint. I do not want involved in any situation remotely like this. Sorry. I’m an organ donor, but there are lines I draw.
physically assaulting someone and then running someone out of town via an online smear campaign is way, way more than “acting like a jerk.” Especially since he’s still doubling down on how he’s convinced he’s totally in the right.
Like most ITGs, you’ll say that right up until the moment you find yourself in that situation.
I’m a woman, and if I saw some guy hauling off my struggling child I’d probably throw a few punches myself. It’s a natural fear response. I’m not a parent, but I would imagine defending your kid is physiologically and psychologically just like defending yourself when threatened - that is, your mind and body would interpet a potential threat to your child exactly like a threat to your own person.
So while I can’t exactly condone it, I can forgive it. It’s understandable. The cops say, ‘‘whoa, whoa, he was just trying to help,’’ and you say ‘‘omg I’m so sorry’’ and take him out to lunch or whatever to assuage your guilt for attacking an innocent person. I don’t know. But that part, the basic human decency part when you realize you’ve made a mistake and try to set it right, is the exact opposite of what that father did.
It’s always frustrating when someone is treated unfairly for trying to do the right thing.
Right. I don’t blame the father for being irate, I don’t even blame him for punching the Good Samaritan. Up to that point, his behavior was logical and natural.
But as you and others pointed out, the subsequent defamation - willful defamation - after that is where the father really went wrong.