If someone in a car/on a motorbike/bicycle blocked the path of another vehicle for less than two seconds, I think any reasonable person would conclude that the driver in the blocked vehicle would not have the right to drive into the car/motorbike/bicycle in order to push it out of the way. I think any reasonable person would think this course of action unjustifiable and more than a bit crazy*. Why is it different if the person is not in a vehicle, but rather on foot?
From the video, the person “blocking the road” for the longest period of time is the driver, who isn’t even in his vehicle at the start of the video, while it sits driverless in the middle of the road.
I would consider it unjustifiable to drive a vehicle into and push a pedestrian backwards for several yards in any circumstances, unless in clear physical danger from that person, but we are talking about this video in which the path of the vehicle is blocked for less than two seconds. From the video, there is no indication that the driver is in clear and imminent danger of physical harm.
Woah,woah,woah… The pedestrian was clearly blocking the drivers Constitutional Right to Liberty of Movement on a Public Roadway. Also, he was being very scary with the mask and stick. Of course you barge at him with your 4500lb vehicle and provoke him further. In doing so, you become fully justified in getting out of your car and beating the snot out of him. Which he had coming, no doubt. But you must make sure to provoke him first, so you can stand your ground after.
He was really scary with his white little backpack. Full of gluten free snacks and smart water, no doubt. Might have even had some nuts in there. People with allergies can’t take any chances.
What does your tactical theory say about diffusing a situation rather than taking aggressive action to make it worse?
I perceive someone wearing a mask while yelling at me and blocking my way as a threat. That’s a fact.
Regardless of the circumstances behind the video this is how such behavior will be viewed by many people. When discussing this in legal context it’s judged from the perspective of “the average man”.
there are 2 different discussions going on and they’re getting interwoven in this thread. One is an internet trial of the video. The other is human behavior. You can’t use the argument that there is not enough information in the video against a discussion of how people react in a confrontation. I plead guilty of the reverse.
So to be clear, as a theoretical point, what the masked person did appears threatening regardless of the events leading up to it. The driver may have just run over his favorite parrot and thus triggered the sudden need to put on a mask and act crazy.
No. I have no problem with people peacefully and legally protesting on the sidewalk or in a park. Stay off the roads unless you have permit. Definitely keep your hands off of people and their property.
I’m not sure you’re in a position to lecture on morality.
It happens so rarely that it’s usually quite dependent on context. Of which we have none we can trust (a random polish neo-nazi on Twitter and a right-wing propaganda blog that makes its headline up out of whole cloth). Everything else is pretty much fan fiction.
But y’know what I wouldn’t do in most circumstances? Escalate. I wouldn’t try to run them over, provoke them, or get out of the car and try to beat the shit out of them. That’d be stupid, pointless, and only raise the odds that someone gets hurt. It’s this bizarre chest-fluffing “warrior” mentality that we really need to stop teaching to our cops that I just don’t get.
I look at that little video as a rightwing Rorschach Test, where they project like a motherfucker, half taking what is there and twisting it and half seeing what isn’t really there at all.
Is there a word that means both “pathetic” and “entertaining”?
OK, you admitted he appears crazy. Now explain how you were able to ascertain he was harmless? Because we just had a crazy person, a left wing wackjob, kill 8 people. His politics aren’t the issue but his mental state is. If you have a skill the rest of us don’t have then tell me how you know a person wearing a mask while blocking someone and yelling hat them is harmless. I would genuinely like to know.
As for the 4500 lb battering ram the driver didn’t run over the masked person. He slowly inched a screaming masked loon back. He didn’t hurt him but used a minimal amount of force to back him up. It’s literally comparable to my personal example posted earlier of a large muscled man getting into my face. I shoulder butted him back. This was this minimum amount of force needed to maintain my safety because I had no way of knowing how fucked up the guy was.