Thanks to @TexasEskimo for the tag. I did combine two topics as they were the same topic and I think there’s some value to having it all together.
If you can avoid the situation, avoid the situation. My daughter has downloaded a police scanner app to her phone as an additional way to be situationally aware in this very uncertain time.
If you cannot avoid the situation, be able to articulate why you did what you did. Know when you can use lethal force. Know your surroundings and who else may be affected by your immediate actions (others in your vehicle?).
Know your options - do everything you can to read the situation. Protestors or rioters? Right now, stress is very high in a lot of areas. Don’t let that stress skew your judgement.
Keeping a level head and mentally preparing yourself for a variety of situations can help save your life and the life of your loved ones.
I learned a long time ago that some situations do not have good answers and that the only defense you could count on was the one where you recognize not to allow that situation in the first place. That however means situational awareness down to the “potential situation” level, and a willingness to act on that recognition to the jeers of others who may be with you. Unfortunately ,sometimes, that’s your only option. After that, if you still find your self in one of those situations, all you can do is make the best of it as circumstance, luck, and you own intelligence can make for. Some hard lessons make me steer clear of even “potential” bad situations when ever i can, because being stuck in one of those situations is, by it’s very nature, an out of control one. I guess this scenario is an example of your best defense being the situational awareness that allows you to flee the situation in time.
Like any situation, I would take every evasive measure possible until I ran out of options & felt my life or my passenger’s lives were in immediate danger of grave injury or death I would start eliminating the threats while looking for newly developing escape routes.
Wow…that’s messed up. Most times its best to let bikers do their own thing. Unless you give them a reason, most times a MC gang wont bother. But sometimes they get bloodlust and woe to the nearest civilian.
My motorcycle instructor repeatedly said something like, “an expert rider doesn’t need to use expert skills.”
Some disagree but his point was that of awareness, anticipation, and avoidance.
One other thing that we need to consider which my wife realized recently, these rioters and specifically Antifa, play by a different set of rules. In her own words, they’re evil. Once flight is no longer an option, we can’t afford to second-guess ourselves.
From my article “Trapped in your Car by Protesters”, if I felt my lawyer could articulate that the mob had the ability, opportunity, and intent to cause me death or great bodily harm, I would simply press on the gas.
That seems like the bottom line.
It could be subjective, though. I’ve read cases where someone acts in self-defense because they were scared for their lives, but a jury of peers finds it to be unreasonable. I guess it helps to know our own biases and phobias, and to have that diverse network of friends who can keep us centered. That cell phone video seems like a great tool, too, so a jury can see an event from your perspective. The six people surrounding your car might all testify that the situation was perfectly safe and non-threatening, when it appears very differently from inside the vehicle. Their 6 opinions might hold more weight with the jury than your one, unless you can show them what really happened.
I am trying to wrap my mind around legality of it - open carrying, while accusing random people of rape, and demanding money from them. Is this exercise of 1A rights, or is this armed robbery?
I’m wrapping my fingers around my .45! Ending up dead with a full magazine on my hip, is like going home with the “immunity idol” in your pocket. Didn’t know Georgia was open carry and a paramilitary state.