She was dazed and confused at the beginning of the video. A normal person doesn’t act like that.
Nevertheless…he was wrong to hit her. Even though in our heart of hearts, we all know she had it coming, it was still wrong. There’s no way he can claim self-defense for that action.
And you’re right - it sure does sound like she said Mitt Romney right afterwards. That’s funny shit right there.
Actually, this is almost exactly how it works in the adult world. The police and justice system become involved in a very small percentage of actual fights.
Why do you assume that the attack was over? Couldn’t a reasonable person assume that if he had been hit once while seated, that he was still in danger? Is being struck with a fist (assuming that is what happened) inherently different than any other form of attack? What if he had been stabbed, would you still say that the attack was over and his only recourse was to get off the bus and call the police?
If the behavior includes attacking and spitting on people, sure. I don’t expect people to be machines who react to stressful situations with the same detached reflection as those of us who can spend hours dissecting what happened from the safety and comfort of our computers. I don’t view the woman as a victim. You can’t lay hands on another human being in that manner without expecting a violent response.
It’s hard to tell because of the angle, but it looks to me like she made physical contact with the driver twice before he punched her. The fight was ongoing, and he defended himself. You can maybe argue that his uppercut did more damage than her attacks, but there’s no sense of “fighting fair” here: When you’re defending yourself, you use what you’ve got. And it’s not even actually clear that his attacks were the more damaging: When you physically assault the driver of a crowded bus while it’s moving, you’re putting a whole lot of people into danger a lot worse than a single punch.
Jesus of Nazareth makes the claim that at the time of his punch, she had stopped her assault, and so defense was not valid. But this argument could be applied in any circumstance where the blows were not landed literally simultaneously. Even if she was not engaged in a swing at that exact moment, she was still in a fight.
I had no idea. I just wanted to know if this deuce could escape jail time for this. I wanted to rule out that they may convict solely on her being a minor. I don’t know. Just calm the hell down with the caps and the colors.
Hey, Clothahump, you’re right. I knew in my heart that self defense couldn’t save the guy… I guess I was just fantasizig.
It’s large, but it’s not in caps and the color is because it’s a link (to an article with pics of the woman and additional info which could be helpful to anyone interested in this story, specifically what the driver told the police and what other witnesses said they saw). Apparently she grabbed him by the throat when she spit in his face (while he was driving).
Sorry, I was just trying to clear that up because there are people who seem to be (extra) offended by the video because they think the woman is a teenager.
In this day & age of AIDS & other blood borne risks, where medical help won’t be given without protective gear and ANYONE spits in my face, I will take that to mean they are trying to kill me.
I’m just sooo glad that bus driver wasn’t white. Sharpton and J J would be all over that shit. And, just for the record, legal or not, the bitch deserved it.
Because if the bus driver was white it would no longer be about a bus driver punching out a loud mouthed woman, it would be all about “white guy beats up Black woman.” It would be in every paper and newscast inflaming tempers and causing racial unrest for sure. And I would hate to see that happen. Remember Rodney King?
The bus driver’s duty is to protect the safety of the passengers. She was a proven threat to him and the passengers, and he took steps to stop the threat.
My dad is trying to get me into that, so I put it in my profile, but it’s honestly not my thing. We don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. I’m a tree-hugging, vegetarian, bleeding heart lefty. My dad is a hardcore, right wing Republican who believes every stupid anti-Obama email forward and WND article he gets. I’m like, “Dad, you’re omniscient. You know Obama was born in Hawaii. You saw it.” But he thinks it was some kind of “Lamestream media” trick.
You don’t even want to know his views on women. Plus he thinks I’m gay. Just because I’m not married and hang around with 12 other dudes…
I do remember Rodney King. I don’t think Al Sharpton “being all over that shit” caused the riots.
Look. Shoehorning race into this thread is just awkward and herky jerky and clumsy to watch. There are so many threads on this video on websites where the race discussion works (and is funny to boot…Some of the racial jokes at fark cracked me up). But in this thread, forcing race into it just doesn’t work.
No, it doesn’t because both parties happened to be of the same race; I am 100% convinced that Peanuthead is right, and if the driver was a white guy, there would be plenty of people (both here at SDMB and in the world at large) who would insist on making into a Race Thing…