specifically for JoN
ok knife weilding attacker closing and 20 feet away, I have a gun in a holster in my hip, can I shoot? Does this person present a lethal threat?
Yes, if someone is attacking you with a knife, you can shoot them.
This girl was not attacking anybody with anything when the driver punched her. She did not have a weapon. The bus driver was free to exit the bus.
Whoa, what happened to turning the other cheek?
Okay, someone *seriously *needs to enhance that video with an “Ryugen!” and some special effects. I predict it will be done before sunrise.
Since it appears the bus was in motion, he could not abandon the wheel and immediately strike back; he stopped the bus then clocked her as soon as he could. He did not sit and fume for a couple of minutes.
Here’s another, longer but lower-quality video from a different angle. It looks like there are various people recording video on their cellphones, so there will probably be even more videos, besides the bus security video.
Ok, it looks like they were at a stop when she put both hands on him. He stands up, “You’re going to jail now”, then sweet chin music. It seems his language leading up to that was unbecoming of a bus driver; I would say she deserved the punch and the subsequent bum rush.
Here’s an answer to the begged question:
**West Virginia Man Charged with Assault after Farting on Officer **(link to PDF of complaint not working)
Top-law-schools.com has a bit of braininess on the farting-as-battery topic, comparing it with blowing cigarette smoke.
For it to have been a truly beautiful punch, he’d have needed to relax his hand until right before the moment of contact, and also get his knee up under his elbow a little more, and crouch a little bit more before delivering the punch.
However, that would have resulted probably in a broken jaw, and perhaps a concussion.
I think the bus driver was a little out of line, but I’d be afraid to convict him of anything. Do we really want to live in a world where people think it’s OK to treat bus drivers this way? What’s next? People get to smack and spit on airline pilots without fear of retaliation or punishment?
I’d rather live in a world with a little enforced politeness, than one where any crackhead in a bad mood can and does abuse anyone they want in public or private. I wouldn’t want someone doing that to me. Then I’d have to decide whether they live or die, and I shouldn’t have to make that choice as a simple consequence of my normal, mundane daily life.
Was her name Alice?
I have to point out that there is a huge middle-ground between not letting her get away with her actions, and getting up and clocking her with such ferocity. It’s such a huge middle ground, that it involves way too many alternate actions to even begin to name them all.
Self-defense isn’t about exacting justice, revenge, or comeuppance, it’s about, well, defending yourself. By the time he got up and swung at her, she wasn’t doing anything. She didn’t make a single move towards him at that point. In fact, she had her arms at her side and practically stuck her chin out there in the open without even so much as an attempt to block the punch.
The guy really should have tried to keep his cool and just let her “go to jail now!” Had she made any further menacing moves after he got up, different story.
I got a question. Would the bus driver be able to leave the bus and still keep his job? Is he prohibited from leaving his post? That changes things doesn’t it? 
“Finish Her!”
All those cellphones filming; I hope someone took a second to call for an amberlance.
911 doesn’t work for black people.
Why was he engaged in a juvinile insult swap with her to begin with? He gets some dig in about her looks and everyone ;aughs amd that’s when she spits on him, but dam. He’s the adult. If she’s disruptive and insulting then get her kicked off the bus, but don’t swap insults , and then punch her when she spits on you.
The lawyers can hash it out but I think he over reacted and assulated her. It did look to me as if she put her hands on him to but still, excessive.
Generally I think a lot adolescents who pass through that mouthy stage need to be taught there can be consequences for being a dipshit , but not like that.
Looks to me as she got what she deserved…All I could hear in the video was “nigga nigga this…nigga nigga that, you nigga,my nigga” Before and after the provoker swung FIRST blind siding the driver. This disrespectful attitude and language has no place in our society…no place in America. People who act like that have things like this coming to them. Come at me like that-same result, every time!
The woman is not an adolescent. I don’t know why the OP thought she was 17, she’s 25.
So people should get assaulted when they act or speak in a manner you don’t like or approve of?
I’ve looked the the video a few times and what I see is typical. She is mouthing off in an aggressive way knowing he can’t do anything. You see this shit all the time on reality shows where the two women get within inches of each other and hurl threats but it never gets to a physical altercation even though no one backs down. But then she laid his hands on the driver and spit on him. He gets up which I would few as acceptable as being able to defend himself or flee. She does not back up which kind of surprises me and given the circumstances I view as aggresive.
So my question is: if at that time she had made a threat would it be self-defense considering she already made it physical? Maybe another scenerio in regards to time elapsed. My neighbor comes up and punches me in the nose. A couple days later he comes up to me with a clinched fist. Knowing he is willing to use violence, can I preemptively defend myself or does he have to punch me in the face each and everytime before I can defend myself.
Also, many have said that he could have escaped and so not self defense.
- Does he have an obligation, either legally or morally, to not leave the bus while an obviously out of control woman is on the bus with passengers?
- Does “stand your ground” apply on a bus or in Cleveland?
If I were on the jury pool and he had grabbed her to force her off the bus, I would have voted not guilty on all counts but that uppercut (even if she did deserve it) seemed all out of proportion unless she said something that would have constituted a further physical threat (maybe like, “I’ll shoot you.” or “I’ll fuck you up.”) then it’s get the first hit in and make it count.