Obviously not all the facts are in, so I'm just playing devils advocate here...Cedar Park Dad wrote:Indeed.It matters not how frail, old, crippled or retarded you might be. We cannot instigate a confrontation and then use our guns to end it when we realize we have bit off more than we could chew.
The way I learned it (in NC) was there are levels of escalation...
-Verbal
--- Soft Hands
----- Hard Hands
------- Chemical
--------- Impact Weapons
----------- Deadly Force
Do we now live in a society where I am not allowed to argue with someone because that translates to "I started it"?
Is it possible that the ex LEO, while engaging in a verbal argument with the texting guy, never intended for it to be anything other than a verbal admonition for texting during the movie? Is it not possible to argue that the texting guy got angry and escalated the incident from words to physical force? And, having not seen or heard the texting guy (was he mouse sized or linebacker sized?), can anyone say that it was completely unreasonable for the ex officer to have felt in danger of imminent harm by this escalation from words to "hard hands"?
Clearly the ex officer was running his mouth. But that doesn't give the texting guy the right to hit him.
It certainly looks bad for the officer, but, more info needed.
The only thing clear is that in this case 2 wrongs made one guy dead.