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I think we sometimes fail to consider how important our instincts might be when we contemplate scenarios like this. One such instinct might be: "as a white man without law enforcement authority or backup on the way, I’m not about to wade into an angry and aroused mob of black people, whom I don’t know personally and who don’t know me, without my knowing ALL the facts involved." That’s not racism talking. That’s both the voice of experience, and the voice of acknowledgement that we live in troubled times where race IS an issue, whether or not we want it to be. If you reverse the roles, very few people would criticize a black observer for refusing to wade into a crowd of angry and worked up white people, or an Asian observer for refusing to wade into a crowd of angry and worked up Hispanics. I hate that that’s the way things are, but that IS the way things are, and only a fool would fail to take that into account.

The whole idea is to avoid having to shoot someone unless it’s absolutely necessary. If you wade into an angry mob, you may end up having to shoot someone just to protect yourself - let alone to protect the victim of the mob. By itself, that argues for great caution. When you add the race variable into the equation, the risks go up exponentially.

I am NOT arguing against helping people whose race may be different from our own.....we are all God's creatures. What I AM saying is that, in today’s hyper-divided world where politicians fan the flames of separation rather than the spreading the balm of unity, if you are of a different race than the mob, it is unrealistic to assume that race will not play a part in the mob's reaction to your actions. Absent that knowledge, do I want to risk killing someone? No, I don’t.

And if that is an unrealistic assumption, then failing to take it into account in your OODA loop may very well end you up with a result you had not wanted or considered.

All of that argues for being a good witness. All of us have our personal Rubicons when it comes to involving ourselves in the business of others. Mine is the abuse of children. There is absolutely no question that I would get involved if the victim were a child. But the victim in this case was an adult, and in this case, I would have had no way of knowing why he (the gender-dysphoric still have the DNA of their biological gender) was getting a beat down.