Comment by frumplestlatz
21 days ago
His attempt to “de-arrest” someone occurred immediately before he was fatally shot. That stands on its own as the proximate cause of the outcome. The video from a week earlier merely establishes a consistent pattern of behavior.
He was not peacefully protesting. Repeatedly showing up to protests, engaging in violence, and doing so while carrying a loaded firearm fundamentally undermines that claim. Carrying a weapon imposes an elevated duty of restraint: when you are armed, you have an inherent responsibility to avoid escalating conflict, precisely because your presence introduces a far greater risk of serious injury or death -- including to yourself.
Literally fighting with federal agents is the opposite of restraint and satisfies the elements of criminal conduct irrespective of political motive. Anyone lionizing him is engaging in vapid propaganda. He was not a peaceful protester, he was not a responsible gun owner, and he consistently engaged in criminal behavior that ultimately led to his death.
Where do you see de-arrest? The article only says he wedged himself between an officer and another protester, which I'd say is normal in any protest.
> he wedged himself between an officer and another protester, which I'd say is normal in any protest.
No, it’s not normal, that was a federal crime, and you absolutely cannot physically interfere with the police just because it’s a protest.
Legally speaking it probably depends on law enforcement actually being in their right to grab the other protestor in the first place?
In practice I had experience of protests in 2010s Russia, and legitimacy is another huge factor there. E.g. even if the law enforcement was in the legal right to grab the other protestor, is it ok that they had the right in the first place.
I'm not saying either of these apply, but that because legality and legitimacy of grabbing a protestor is often unclear this de facto is a normal behavior at a protest and should not have any severe punishment attached to it.
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