TexasCHLforum.com

From Chased home: Mob attacks man in his house

This is a 37 year-old husband and father. His "offense" was providing shelter to two kids, age 13-14, being chased by a mob. Good for him for bringing them back to his house and possibly saving their life.

Inside his house, LaVelle, 37, called to his wife, Kim, 30, to go to their bedroom with their twin 13-month-old boys, Mark and Mason, and to call police. He also ordered his two other sons, 11 and 17, and his nephew, 7, to stay upstairs.

Here is what the mob did:

...They were standing on his steps. One shouted, " 'Something's going to happen now!' " LaVelle recalled in an interview Friday at his house. LaVelle got nervous and went back inside, locking his door with a deadbolt.

But the attackers pounded on his front windows and kicked his wooden door so hard, it flew open and some of them entered his house.

"The first guy hits me with a pipe. The second guy knocks me in the face. All I'm hearing is my wife and kids screaming," said LaVelle, who feared that the next time they saw him, he would be in a casket.

He said that he was able to push the attackers out the door, but then a third man - who had a gun - tried to extend his arm. LaVelle grabbed onto the gunman's lower arm and shoulder so he couldn't raise the weapon. Then, police sirens screamed in the neighborhood, and the mob turned and ran.

And of course, we later have the irate mother (another real class act) showing up on his door step after her son is one of the people arrested for aggravated assault and other charges (I guess he was just a poor misunderstood youth who was "trying to turn his life around"):

LaVelle said that the next day the mother of the juvenile came back with some other people, banging on his door, screaming. LaVelle, who was at a charity sports event, was called back to the house by one of his sons.

When he got home, LaVelle said, the mother yelled at him, ".........you got my kid locked up! You got my son locked up because he's black, you're white!' " The mother claimed that her son had been "a witness," not an attacker. To that, LaVelle said if that were true, it would come out in court.

But the mother, according to LaVelle, then yelled: " 'If you make it to court! I know where you live!' "

These flash mobs aren't going to stop until someone starts piling up the bodies. A mob breaks down the door to my house, and it will be very ugly. I would find myself the unwilling object of the whole international media spectacle (but my family would still be alive, God willing.)

In Philly again. The relatives of the three men arrested are harassing the hero here, and may be charged.

A mob breaks down the door to my house, and it will be very ugly...

Yup.

They would learn why doorways are one of the features often referred to as "fatal funnels" in some circles.

These flash mobs aren't going to stop until someone starts piling up the bodies.

My thoughts exactly...

Civil behavior must be conditioned and enforced. Far too many citizens in our society have not been properly conditioned, and our society has done an abysmal job of enforcement.

Just wait until we run out of "government", AKA, OUR, hand-out money. The savages WILL run amok, but on a nation-wide scale.

Fun times ahead....NOT!

I don't take in strangers - day or night. I don't even allow them to run through my campsite a second time. Contrary to the parable about the good samaritan, nice guys seldom come in first nowadays.

Oldgringo wrote:I don't take in strangers - day or night.

I'd protect a 13 year old in those circumstances.

I am of two minds on something here. Not about how horrible it was that the man got attacked by the mob. That made me both mad and sick reading about it. But, if you look at crime statistics, America AS A WHOLE has gotten LESS VIOLENT as a trend. The violence seems to be getting more and more acute and frequent in specific places, though...ever notice that a large portion of them are the places that either all-but-ban their citizens from owning weapons, make them jump through hoops to do so, or de facto make it nigh on impossible to defend oneself/loved ones/property with a firearm and NOT go to jail? Places like Chicago, Philadelphia, NYC, L.A., and others of that ilk. I know I'm preaching to the choir on this business (at least I hope so)...but I'm just so sick of the media, and some so-called "academic experts", making this both ways at once: that America is more violent in general AND to fix it, people need to give up their firearms...both are flat out WRONG! Ask yourself, seriously, do you REALLY SEE this happening here in Texas? Not in my neighborhood, I'm pretty certain on this one!

...my, my,my...I'm at a loss for words that won't get me chewed out or worse...the FACTS of the case as presented in the article say it all...nervous as it may make folks...those" errant youths" better thank God they weren't at MY door...

speedsix wrote:...my, my,my...I'm at a loss for words that won't get me chewed out or worse...the FACTS of the case as presented in the article say it all...nervous as it may make folks...those" errant youths" better thank God they weren't at MY door...

And speedsix, THAT is EXACTLY what I was talking about! It isn't ONLY the actual USE of the firearm, but also the factor of the bad guy knowing that HE might not be the one walking away...

Of course my initial thought was "anyone breaking through my bolted door and threatening me with a pipe is going to catch some lead." But after a few minutes thinking about the situation.....

1. He had no idea what the kids in his house may have done to instigate the problem.
2. If he injures/kills an attacker, how does that affect the safety of his wife, 4 young kids, his house and himself?

Being "dead right" is small consolation. Unfortunate, but, reality.

He also didn't know how the mob was armed until they broke thru his door. They very easily could have guns, knives, bats, pipes.....

I really wouln't care if my kids instigated it or not if a mob breaks thru my front door some of them will be lucky to survive!

As for the aftermath.....threats have already been made against the homeowner...all the more reason for never leaving home without you gun.

Crowd control usually involves more that a mag or two. I still think mega-pepper spray or the big big canisters of bear spray are a plus to have on hand.

No sense leaving the bear spray behind after a hiking trip. My wife bought a very large canister a year or two back but it proved too heavy so she got a smaller one. We keep the big boy at the house now.

The one two punch would be 1) spray the mob 2) shoot the mob.

RoyGBiv wrote:Of course my initial thought was "anyone breaking through my bolted door and threatening me with a pipe is going to catch some lead." But after a few minutes thinking about the situation.....

1. He had no idea what the kids in his house may have done to instigate the problem.
2. If he injures/kills an attacker, how does that affect the safety of his wife, 4 young kids, his house and himself?

Being "dead right" is small consolation. Unfortunate, but, reality.

My thoughts are that these types are not going to like you and will treat you according to your approach to them, and that is only by fear, either yours or theirs. If you are passive, they will still victimize you, if you are aggressive and react with total force, then perhaps they will at least be fearful of you and yours. I don't know if being aggressive is the answer, but with my experience those you prevent from preying on others aint going to like you no matter which method you bring to the table. At least get your licks in...The Koreans in L.A. come to mind.

RoyGBiv wrote:Of course my initial thought was "anyone breaking through my bolted door and threatening me with a pipe is going to catch some lead." But after a few minutes thinking about the situation.....

1. He had no idea what the kids in his house may have done to instigate the problem.
2. If he injures/kills an attacker, how does that affect the safety of his wife, 4 young kids, his house and himself?

Being "dead right" is small consolation. Unfortunate, but, reality.

It doesn't matter what the kids that he was protecting might have done. We are supposed to be a country of laws with the assumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law, not given over to mob violence and the possibility of beating deaths. I do understand that, in some areas and with some ethnic groups, there may be little or no respect for the law, based on past conduct. Mob violence is not a solution to that either.

I agree that his family's safety may have been compromised by his actions. It he cannot petition the local police department for help with that, we've sunk a lot lower as a society than even I believed.

fulano wrote:Crowd control usually involves more that a mag or two. I still think mega-pepper spray or the big big canisters of bear spray are a plus to have on hand.

No sense leaving the bear spray behind after a hiking trip. My wife bought a very large canister a year or two back but it proved too heavy so she got a smaller one. We keep the big boy at the house now.

The one two punch would be 1) spray the mob 2) shoot the mob.

...no way pepper spray matches a swinging pipe, much less a gun...you're playing nice and nice won't win...the pipe man woulda been shot, then the gun man, and the guy swinging fists maybe...after you break into my home...you're bought and paid for...no mercy...no quarter...

DEB wrote:

RoyGBiv wrote:Of course my initial thought was "anyone breaking through my bolted door and threatening me with a pipe is going to catch some lead." But after a few minutes thinking about the situation.....

1. He had no idea what the kids in his house may have done to instigate the problem.
2. If he injures/kills an attacker, how does that affect the safety of his wife, 4 young kids, his house and himself?

Being "dead right" is small consolation. Unfortunate, but, reality.

My thoughts are that these types are not going to like you and will treat you according to your approach to them, and that is only by fear, either yours or theirs. If you are passive, they will still victimize you, if you are aggressive and react with total force, then perhaps they will at least be fearful of you and yours. I don't know if being aggressive is the answer, but with my experience those you prevent from preying on others aint going to like you no matter which method you bring to the table. At least get your licks in...The Koreans in L.A. come to mind.

...agreed on that...I may go down, but there won't be an olive branch in either one of my fists...