The alternative is to be a doormat and let the bastard walk over you. And it wasn’t just the flipping off. The asshole attempted in his every way(if lieu’s story is to believed) to bully. To simply walk away from a bully is to surrender to him. Sometimes walking away is the smart move, but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking it’s a morally superior move. Sometimes you have to stick up for yourself.
I’m a peaceful man, but I got no problem with what lieu did.
lieu
My bad. I thought the guy was in his car. I’m not going to try to crawl in your head to determine whether you thought the guy was about to hit you. If you felt that way, the self-defense argument is understandable.
spooje
I was directing my comments toward the attempts to legally justify the punch. You might feel that lieu had a moral right or whatever, but there is no legal justification for hitting a guy just because he’s being a bully.
If lieu felt that a physical battery was imminent, then he’s justified in using the force necessary to prevent personal harm. But, if he didn’t feel physical battery was imminent, then the punch isn’t legally justified. He could have walked away.