"Started shouting but not being physically violent".
@Goonie I'm going to both applaud your ability to be factually correct while chastise your mischaracterization by omission...
Because whether or not someone can be considered an immediate threat is whether or not it's a reasonable conclusion based on the circumstances.
I've only bothered to listen to 1 eyewitness account from an elderly man who was there apparently. I haven't watched the video (I really don't want to) and if I'm not mistaken we can paraphrase what this man shouted like this....
"I'm hungry" "I'm not taking no for an answer" "I'll hurt anyone here" "I don't care what happens to me or if they put me in jail for life"
Now, they don't put anyone in jail for life for a mugging or simple robbery....typically not even for robbery with a deadly weapon.
They put people in jail for life for murder.
Now, given these statements are coming from an elderly man who doesn't seem to be involved in the fight that followed....I'm going to go off his words here even if they turn out to be unclear or unverifiable. If this is in the video....just say so.
While I have every sympathy for the homeless and hungry of New York who have endured the decimation of BLM riots on their police force, the covid lock downs and restrictions that killed small businesses and drove out wealthy taxpayers, the following and completely predictable rise in violent crime along with a much more passive (sometimes non-existent) police response, and the frustration of having to endure this while illegals are being bussed into the city to work all the kinds of jobs that the poor would normally take to survive.....
This man isn't begging for help he's threatening to kill or violently injure anyone who is either unwilling to be robbed or doesn't have anything to give him.
Before we move on to whether or not it's a reasonable assumption that he isn't just talking....he's actually a threat....would you describe the above characterization as fair?
