Let’s see what Chaos thinks about this.
Sure. But before I go on, I'd like to point out that you (and Boxy) seem to miss the initial point. It's not a dick-measuring contest for whose "team" has worse shit happen to them. It was about harmful messages. J.K. Rowling isn't on the level. Garrett Foster is. Bernell Trammell is.
As for this shooting, I'll break it down first, then comment.
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No official information has been released yet. From what I gather on this incident:
-Protesters were blocking the street
-Driver attempts to get through
-Driver is swarmed by protesters
-After some time, nine shots in total are fired
-Car took off, police and medics arrive, driver apparently went to the cops
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My take:
I don't have a problem in general with open-carry. I don't think the fact that he was open-carrying is the reason this happened. You tried to preempt the argument saying he was running people over, so lets get that out of the way. From what I saw, the driver tries to turn a corner, people are in the way and he stops before being swarmed. Maybe you saw a video that I didn't. But if we're looking at the same footage, it doesn't warrant the claim that he was "trying to run people over."
You can see from the still shot that, along with the mob, Foster has approached the driver's side of the vehicle, chicken-winging his rifle. It's a ready position. That's a much different scenario than a peaceful protester simply exercising his Second Amendment rights.
If you're going to tell me that if you were in the driver's position, you wouldn't feel imminent threat, then OK. I doubt it, but OK. For most of us, fight-or-flight would kick in. If a mob swarms a vehicle and begins assaulting it, and one of them approaches with a weapon drawn and readied, you shouldn't be surprised if the driver and/or passengers fight back. And in Texas of all places, you shouldn't be surprised if they fight back with firepower.
Not like it's a one-off thing.
This guy (fuck his name) was peacefully protesting in Provo, Utah. They tried obstructing traffic and blocking an intersection, assaulting and damaging vehicles that tried to pass. A white Excursion pulls up, gets swarmed, this guy pulls out a handgun, fires, and hits the 60-year-old driver. The driver floors it, and he fires again. Dude goes back to peaceful protesting and later on is smashing other cars' windows, etc.
You've probably seen the video.
This guy (fuck his name, too) was among the protesters in Atlanta, Georgia. He was arrested and charged felony murder of an 8-year-old little girl who was just riding in a car. That car tried to turn around in a parking lot that had an illegal barricade. They were confronted by armed men who opened fire on the car. The little girl got shot and killed.
You can look up other cases of vehicles being assaulted, drivers being pulled out, etc.
Bottom line, I don't find it unreasonable in the slightest to defend yourself in that type of situation. Would you sit there and take it?
