Who's right? Who's Wrong? Either? Both? None of the above?

Gil223 · Nov 30, 2012

Here's a video-clip from KHOU-TV, taken from a security camera at a convenience store in Houston TX. Somebody assaulted the store clerk. That assault was countered with a well-place shot to the abdomen. The two "armed" associates outside were (apparently) out of range of the security camera during the entire incident (we do not see the gun or the shot being fired, either). The black community is outraged over the shooting since the shooter was white. Would there be a similar outrage if the clerk had also been black? I don't think so...
http://www.khou.com/news/local/-Sur...-store-clerk-throw-first-punch-181127601.html
How about if the clerk had been black and the assaulter white? Who would get the blame from the black community then? :uhoh: Pax...

Anonymouse · Nov 30, 2012

Gil223 said:
Here's a video-clip from KHOU-TV, taken from a security camera at a convenience store in Houston TX. Somebody assaulted the store clerk. That assault was countered with a well-place shot to the abdomen. The two "armed" associates outside were (apparently) out of range of the security camera during the entire incident (we do not see the gun or the shot being fired, either). The black community is outraged over the shooting since the shooter was white. Would there be a similar outrage if the clerk had also been black? I don't think so...
http://www.khou.com/news/local/-Sur...-store-clerk-throw-first-punch-181127601.html
How about if the clerk had been black and the assaulter white? Who would get the blame from the black community then? :uhoh: Pax...

I would have shot him.

Actually, no I wouldn't. I would never have stepped outside if they were out there...

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compmanio365 · Nov 30, 2012

Laws change, and I think we all know that just because something is the LAW, doesn't make it RIGHT. My personal belief on what is RIGHT, is that good and moral people don't go around placing their hands on other people, period. And if you do, all applicable force should be available to the victim to stop you from furthering that attack. Just because someone doesn't have a weapon doesn't mean I should sit there and get my a** handed to me in an unprovoked attack.

Oh, and of course the black community is outraged. Just like they are about Trayvon Martin, just like they are anytime someone has the audacity to defend themselves against a black person attacking somebody else. Cue Jesse Jackson ranting and Obama saying "If I had a son, he'd be just like that boy at the store in Texas". Every action against them, even when justified, is "racism". You should just sit there and let them beat and kill you for the change in your pocket cause you sure don't want to be a "racist".

Citizen · Nov 30, 2012

Evaluate the shooting in terms of AOJ/I: Ability, Opportunity, Jeopardy/Intent. Include clean hands and disparity of force.

Since the video is cut short, we can't tell for sure, but just going on what the video and story show:

I'm betting the clerk gave up his mantle of innocence by unlocking the door--I'm betting he unlocked the door to contribute to the difficulty, not defuse or de-escalate.

The punch to the jaw didn't knock him down (gotta admire the stoutness of that lad) or out.

Mr. Puncher wasn't there for a beat down. He even backs up and drops his hands after the punch. As though to await the clerk's response. Had Puncher been interested in administering a beat down he would have laid into the clerk. In fact, it kinda looks like the punch might have been intended as a provocation, "Come on, lets fight."

This looks like a fist-fight settled with a gun. I'm thinking the clerk used the gun to punch back, rather than use his fist or disengage.

Based on the info so far, I'm gonna say bad shoot.

ETA: Be sure to watch the whole video--just suffer through the bad journalism. At the very end the reporter passes along the info that the shooter said he was fearful of the punchers two companions who had guns. I'm not sure I quite accept that. Although I can see someone standing at a door and arguing with strangers known to be armed, I don't quite see opening the door if you foresaw the possibility of a gunfight. I'd be getting the heck away from the door, myself. Not opening it.

Anonymouse · Nov 30, 2012

compmanio365 said:
Oh, and of course the black community is outraged. Just like they are about Trayvon Martin, just like they are anytime someone has the audacity to defend themselves against a black person attacking somebody else. Cue Jesse Jackson ranting and Obama saying "If I had a son, he'd be just like that boy at the store in Texas". Every action against them, even when justified, is "racism". You should just sit there and let them beat and kill you for the change in your pocket cause you sure don't want to be a "racist".

Look at the comments . Quite a few black people siding with the clerk.

Might want to wat h your generalizations there...

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Ca Patriot · Nov 30, 2012

The video doesnt show the entire situation and the reporting doesnt give the entire account either. However......

I think the store employee used poor judgement but I think he was justified in the shooting.

Also, the black man in a suit talking about "respect" is a well known black panther who has previously called for blacks to kill white people and kill jews.

Anonymouse · Nov 30, 2012

Ca Patriot said:
The video doesnt show the entire situation and the reporting doesnt give the entire account either. However......

I think the store employee used poor judgement but I think he was justified in the shooting.

Also, the black man in a suit talking about "respect" is a well known black panther who has previously called for blacks to kill white people and kill jews.

Anyone changing their name to whatever X in the last 20 years is automatically suspect.

Why did the clerk go outside though???

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Gil223 · Nov 30, 2012

Citizen said:
Evaluate the shooting in terms of AOJ/I: Ability, Opportunity, Jeopardy/Intent. Include clean hands and disparity of force.

Since the video is cut short, we can't tell for sure, but just going on what the video and story show:

I'm betting the clerk gave up his mantle of innocence by unlocking the door--I'm betting he unlocked the door to contribute to the difficulty, not defuse or de-escalate.

The punch to the jaw didn't knock him down (gotta admire the stoutness of that lad) or out.

Mr. Puncher wasn't there for a beat down. He even backs up and drops his hands after the punch. As though to await the clerk's response. Had Puncher been interested in administering a beat down he would have laid into the clerk. In fact, it kinda looks like the punch might have been intended as a provocation, "Come on, lets fight."

This looks like a fist-fight settled with a gun. I'm thinking the clerk used the gun to punch back, rather than use his fist or disengage.

Based on the info so far, I'm gonna say bad shoot.

ETA: Be sure to watch the whole video--just suffer through the bad journalism. At the very end the reporter passes along the info that the shooter said he was fearful of the punchers two companions who had guns. I'm not sure I quite accept that. Although I can see someone standing at a door and arguing with strangers known to be armed, I don't quite see opening the door if you foresaw the possibility of a gunfight. I'd be getting the heck away from the door, myself. Not opening it.

We're pretty-much in agreement there, Citizen. Unlocking the door was a very bad decision (as opposed to an overt criminal act), and was the gateway to further escalating the confrontation. Was opening the door intentionally designed to provide the clerk with an opportunity to use his gun? Only one person knows the true answer to that... and, if he's half-smart, he ain't sayin'.
Not opening the door, retreating from the doorway (yet still keeping an eye on it), gaining concealment (assuming no real cover was available), and calling 911 would have been my approach. Then, 30 minutes later when HPD officer(s) showed up, I would (perhaps) be alive to give them a description of the armed miscreants.
It doesn't appear to be a "righteous shoot", but we've all made bad decisions in our lives... unfortunately, this one resulted in a shooting.
Arrest him? I dunno about that. He may have been hypersensitive to the presence of guns outside, since he was "shot in the leg last year" during a store robbery, which may have been the driving force behind the trigger pull. The report didn't make it clear (to me, anyway) whether he noticed the gunmen before or after he opened the door. If before - he must have been painfully stupid to open the door. If after - he may have seen himself as trapped, and made a split-second decision to shoot his way out of the trap, simply based upon last year's experience.
To my way of thinking this shooting requires something much greater than a superficial investigation, but far short of a Congressional Hearing. Pax...

EMNofSeattle · Nov 30, 2012

Well, the cops have fingered this as justifiable, and I (naturally :lol

side with them...

it may have been bad judgement for the kid to open the door, but bad judgement doesn't mean the victim deserves to be attacked. thats like saying a woman who's raped after being pulled off the sidewalk on a college grounds where she could've called a security escort is at fault for her assault because she was walking alone at night, sure walking alone at night is inherently dangerous in several areas, but that in NO WAY WHATSOEVER means a victim is responsible for their own assault. and it certainly doesn't mean one fofeits their right to defend themselves

Calloway had thrown the punch, so maybe he wasn't beating people down, but he did strike an individual, closed fist, on the head. head injuries can be serious, the fact that calloway decided to escalate a verbal argument into a punch shows he's capable of undue violence. maybe opening the door was a bad decision, but now that it was open what was to stop callo from entering the store and continuing his assault?

maybe the clerk made bad or shady decisions, but that's irrelevant, all that matters is, was it reasonable for the clerk to expect death or grave bodily harm if the felonious assault by callo was allowed to continue? I say.... Yes it was reasonable.

Fallschirjmäger · Nov 30, 2012

"First, be innocent of instigation."

“I’m just hurt,” said Allexander Calloway. “He didn’t have to shoot my son. He didn’t have to shoot my son.”
Yeah, well your son didn't have to physically assault someone, so um... Eff him.

Citizen · Nov 30, 2012

EMNofSeattle said:
Well, the cops have fingered this as justifiable, and I (naturally :lol side with them...

it may have been bad judgement for the kid to open the door, but bad judgement doesn't mean the victim deserves to be attacked. thats like saying a woman who's raped after being pulled off the sidewalk on a college grounds where she could've called a security escort is at fault for her assault because she was walking alone at night, sure walking alone at night is inherently dangerous in several areas, but that in NO WAY WHATSOEVER means a victim is responsible for their own assault. and it certainly doesn't mean one fofeits their right to defend themselves

Calloway had thrown the punch, so maybe he wasn't beating people down, but he did strike an individual, closed fist, on the head. head injuries can be serious, the fact that calloway decided to escalate a verbal argument into a punch shows he's capable of undue violence. maybe opening the door was a bad decision, but now that it was open what was to stop callo from entering the store and continuing his assault?

maybe the clerk made bad or shady decisions, but that's irrelevant, all that matters is, was it reasonable for the clerk to expect death or grave bodily harm if the felonious assault by callo was allowed to continue? I say.... Yes it was reasonable.

I say it wasn't. What we see on the video is that the puncher clearly did not follow up. He actually backed up and lowered his hands, rather than raise them. Although punches to the head can cause grave bodily injury, this one didn't--the shooter stays not only conscious, but upright, and doesn't even sway or stagger. There is no report of a broken jaw, etc. It is purely speculative that the assault might continue. Insofar as the assault stopped with one punch any further punching would be a new assault for the purposes of figuring out whether the shooter could respond differently.

The shooter's bad decisions are far from irrelevant. Whatever the argument, it started before the door was unlocked. The shooter is not free from having contributed to the difficulty.

I am unconvinced by the police determination that the shooting was justified. I have little or no expectation for them to know the legal fine points on lawful lethal force as applied to citizens.

MKEgal · Nov 30, 2012

EMNofSeattle said:
sure walking alone at night is inherently dangerous in several areas, but that in NO WAY WHATSOEVER means a victim is responsible for their own assault.

Someone circle this day on the calendar. EMN & I agree on something.

skidmark · Nov 30, 2012

Regardless of anything else - why would someone go from a place of relative safety to a place of relative risk. Stay behind a counter behind a locked door, with a phone in my hand, or go outside unarmed and engage with one or more persons who appear to be upset and wanting to express that towards me personally? Let me think about that for a moment.

stay safe.

Ca Patriot · Dec 1, 2012

Citizen said:
I say it wasn't. What we see on the video is that the puncher clearly did not follow up. He actually backed up and lowered his hands, rather than raise them. Although punches to the head can cause grave bodily injury, this one didn't--the shooter stays not only conscious, but upright, and doesn't even sway or stagger

The video cuts out before you can see what happens after the punch.

Punches to the head that result in serious injury often dont produce symptons for hours. By the time a victim is suffering from symptons its often too late.

hjmoosejaw · Dec 1, 2012

Note to self: If you punch somebody in the face, you may be shot................. That's not so hard to remember.

Citizen · Dec 1, 2012

Ca Patriot said:
The video cuts out before you can see what happens after the punch.

Punches to the head that result in serious injury often dont produce symptons for hours. By the time a victim is suffering from symptons its often too late.

If you argue that, you arguing for retaliation, not prevention.

And, it still doesn't address the clerk not being free of contributing to the difficulty.

But, I think the only way the discussion can go further is to see the whole video. Otherwise, we are just going to end up arguing suppositions endlessly. I am already making supposition that the clerk unlocked the door to continue an argument and confront the puncher. We can only add more suppositions from here. Or, just ignore the law on self-defense.

Also, I should note that I am discussing the legality of the shooting. Not the presence or absence of moral justification. We should keep in mind that the elements of not contributing to the difficulty and being free from blame are artifices of the legal system designed to prevent a killer from provoking someone into assaulting him so he can kill, claiming self-defense, and getting away with it.

Freedom1Man · Dec 1, 2012

Given the fact that the clerk has been shot before by members of the same community as they guy who punched him, I am siding with the clerk mostly.

Now there is the whole we don't know what was being said or what was happening that the clerk felt that opening the door was the correct action.

I would thing that a guy willing to throw a punch like that would be willing to break down doors to harm others, his body language after he struck the clerk, tells ME that we wanted to escalate the fight. Now it can be true that he backed away but that can be used to create a false impression.

If someone wants to kill another person and make it look justified, hit him hard enough to hurt but not hard enough for a knock down. Back away and hope they swing at you. Now you can tell the police that he threw the first punch, you punched him back, he was coming in with another punch and so you shot/killed him in self defense.

If someone wants to throw a punch at me like that one, I am not a fighter and I don't run fast. Yes, I will use my self defense tool(s).

Beretta92FSLady · Dec 1, 2012

I'm working at a store, I have my firearm at my side, guy gets in my face, I'm shooting, even before he hits me, if I have the chance.

If person has their sidearm at their side, and the individual still approaches, they are demanding to be shot.

Anonymouse · Dec 1, 2012

EMNofSeattle said:
sure walking alone at night is inherently dangerous in several areas, but that in NO WAY WHATSOEVER means a victim is responsible for their own assault.

Everyone likes to say this, especially women's advocacy groups.

I call BS. PC nonsense...

If you put yourself in a bad spot you are absolutely responsible. Does this mean the criminal bears no responsibility? Absolutely not. Does this mean you forfeit any right to self defense? Absolutely not.

However this is the real world. Actions have consequences and you need to be aware of them and accept responsibility for them.

You walk in a bad neighborhood at night and get robbed, murdered, raped then it is your fault. Sure, its the criminals fault too but you are as responsible. What are yoy doing there?

The common response to this is that you have the right to go anywhere and be safe. Imagine a zebra telling that to a lion. Lol.

Should you be punished or vilified though for being a victim? Nope, hopefully you learned your lesson. Hopefully you lived and won't make that mistake again.

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hjmoosejaw · Dec 1, 2012

The common response to this is that you have the right to go anywhere and be safe. Imagine a zebra telling that to a lion. Lol.

Now imagine that same zebra armed.

Who's right? Who's Wrong? Either? Both? None of the above?

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