# Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 31, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945 "2021-01-31T21:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 446
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8911 "2023-09-30T00:09:02Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Colie had _no way_ of knowing that the random stranger pushing into his face playing jibberish and refusing to back off would escalate to physical attack. If Cook had said, “I’m going to beat you up,” do you think Colie would be justified in shooting him? ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8912 "2023-09-30T00:19:51Z")
“Paranoia strikes deep into your life it will creep. There’s a man with a gun over there Tellin’ me I got to beware It starts when you’re always afraid…” We are being conditioned to be paranoid and afraid. Normally stupid, probably innocuous reacted to as life threatening. I don’t think this is entirely accidental. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8913 "2023-09-30T00:29:32Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > If Cook had said, “I’m going to beat you up,” do you think Colie would be justified in shooting him? If he genuinely thought that would happen, yeah. People shouldn’t have to tolerate “just” being beat up. If someone is attempting to harm you, you should be able to stop them. (Eta: that’s assuming, of couse, that he had no easy way of escaping.) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8914 "2023-09-30T01:07:10Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Again, both of these assertions come from hindsight knowledge. Colie had _no way_ of knowing that the random stranger pushing into his face playing jibberish and refusing to back off would escalate to physical attack. hopefully an epileptic person near him never has a seizure or so … I fear the worst … he might feel threatended by the sick person - and try to neutralize the threat. most of the civilized world has a “proportionate-response principle” in place for a reason ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8915 "2023-09-30T01:46:41Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > hopefully an epileptic person near him never has a seizure or so … I fear the worst … he might feel threatended by the sick person - and try to neutralize the threat. Darren would undoubtedly advocate that you shoot them before they get you first. > **[Characteristics of Epilepsy Patients who Committed Violent Crimes: Report...](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3952313/)** > > We investigated the clinical and criminal characteristics of patients with epilepsy who had committed violent crimes in order to understand the mechanism of violence and to prevent future criminal activity.We reviewed medical and legal reports of... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8916 "2023-09-30T02:13:33Z")
Video has been released. (Non-graphic.) > **[Video shows encounter between YouTube prankster and food delivery driver who...](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/video-shows-encounter-between-youtube-prankster-and-food-delivery-driver-who-shot-him/3433999/)** > > Video played in court shows the encounter between a YouTube prankster and the food delivery driver who shot him inside a Virginia mall. A jury on Thursday found 31-year-old Alan Colie not guilty of aggravated malicious wounding in the shooting of... ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8917 "2023-09-30T02:30:45Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Video has been released. That looks _much_ worse than I had imagined. As in - the actions of the shooter are much worse. I had imagined the “pranker” being much more obnoxious and threatening than this. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8918 "2023-09-30T02:32:32Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > had imagined the “pranker” being much more obnoxious and threatening than this. Actually, so had I. But Colie still seemed genuinely distressed, not just macho posturing. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8919 "2023-09-30T02:42:41Z")
If the jury saw this video… I’m just baffled. I would have voted guilty of attempted murder, let alone what he was charged with. The unambiguous message here is that ordinary untrained citizens shouldn’t carry guns, but that’s America. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8920 "2023-09-30T02:47:52Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The unambiguous message here is that ordinary untrained citizens shouldn’t carry guns, but that’s America. And it does go back to the message that was the original reason I posted the story in this thread: don’t deliberately fuck around with someone of unknown armedness and emotional stability. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8921 "2023-09-30T02:56:37Z")
It seems like almost everyone on social media is seeing this as “youtube pranker fucks around and finds out”. The way I’d look at it is that an emotionally unstable person was walking around with a gun primed to shoot someone. Since he was probably going to shoot _someone_ at some point when they annoyed him slightly, I’m glad it was this douchebag pranker rather than anyone else. But the fundamental problem is not the douchebag, it’s the emotionally unstable guy walking around a mall with a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8922 "2023-09-30T03:02:10Z")
Can we just agree that they’re both stupid MFers? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8923 "2023-09-30T03:05:25Z")
Unless we argue that the pranker is performing a public service by exposing emotionally unstable people who should not be armed and taking a bullet to prove that fact. I wouldn’t want to discourage douchebags from standing in the front lines and taking bullets that might otherwise hit the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8924 "2023-09-30T03:27:59Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The unambiguous message here is that ordinary untrained citizens shouldn’t carry guns, but that’s America. I’m fairly sure the original framers of the Constitution (and BOR) intended this to be covered by the use of “well regulated” terminology. With rights go responsibilities. For most 2nd amendment adherents, though, the government should not be able to require responsibility in those exercising rights. If the right to bear arms was, in fact, well regulated, almost all of this gun violence would have a very short run. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8925 "2023-09-30T03:37:04Z")
Jeez, the shooter had a clear path to the door and he had to turn around to shoot the guy. If any of the jury ever talks about how they came to “not guilty” on that evidence (I am assuming that they saw this video), I’d sure be interested to read about it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8926 "2023-09-30T04:36:18Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > don’t deliberately fuck around with someone of unknown armedness and emotional stability. You could say that about literally anyone. Are you gonna shoot the guy in traffic that honks at you? What about the person turning around in your driveway? > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > (Eta: that’s assuming, of couse, that he had no easy way of escaping.) Did you watch the video you posted It was a food court in a mall, he an unobstructed walk directly out the front door. The youtuber was clearly waving a phone around at him. Obnoxious, absolutely. Worthy of deadly retaliation, nope. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Video has been released. (Non-graphic.) That would seem to imply you haven’t actually watched your own cited video as the reporter states “viewers might find this disturbing” and you see a person getting shot. I see no reason to continue this discussion as you’re not arguing in good faith. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8927 "2023-09-30T04:46:44Z")
Joey P- Unfortunately, arguing with this person is futile. Sorry, arguing isn’t a good descriptor. Trying to make this person see reason is futile. Darren Garrison is the same guy who thought the black man jogging, who stopped to check out an empty house being built, deserved to be murdered. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8928 "2023-09-30T04:48:26Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Did you watch the video you posted Yes, I watched the video I posted around 2 hours _after_ I made that comment. And the response was to a new hypothetical situation suggested by Spice\_Weasel. (Also by Joey\_P) > Are you gonna shoot the guy in traffic that honks at you? What about the person turning around in your driveway? I have never owned a handgun or fired any type of gun in my life, and never wanted to. (I can’t say that I literally have never owned any gun because I inherited a rifle and shotgun from my grandfather, which I never used.) This isn’t about anything I am liabe to do personally, only that I am in favor of people being able to defend themselves when they think they are in danger. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8929 "2023-09-30T04:51:56Z")
Were those inbred racist losers who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery in fear for their lives? Oh yeah, I forgot to add…and chased him down in their vehicles while he ran for his life. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/8930 "2023-09-30T04:54:15Z")
> [@saucywench](#): > > Were those inbred racist losers who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery in fear for their lives? I have said everything I am interested in saying on that subject in my pit thread long ago. Feel free to reread that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945.md?page=445) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945.md?page=447)