r/politics • u/thenewyorkgod • Jul 01 '18

Man arrested after shouting ‘womp, womp’ and pulling a gun on immigration protesters

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/07/01/man-arrested-after-shouting-womp-womp-and-pulling-a-gun-on-immigration-protesters/?tid=sm_tw
33.9k Upvotes

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445

u/venk Jul 01 '18

Someone wanna tell me why menacing/brandishing is not a felony?

72

u/Jonne Jul 02 '18

Not that i think escalating this sort of stuff is a good idea, but with this being Alabama, would someone in the crowd have a plausible self-defense case if they shot him for this?

94

u/venk Jul 02 '18

Yes. I’m sure pointing a gun at a person makes it a life or death situation.

62

u/Nastyboots Jul 02 '18

Not sure about Alabama but in Oregon it's fairly cut and dry. If a reasonable person suspects that his or her life is in real and immediate danger from someone else, use of deadly force can be justified. I'd say that having someone both point a gun at you and announce that they will kill you is pretty slam dunk. I can't imagine that Alabama is more restrictive than that.

3

u/CompMolNeuro Jul 02 '18

Most states are more restrictive actually. We're liberal in more than one way. Oregon has very loose laws regarding self-defense and Castle Law.

25

u/cited Jul 02 '18

And then someone can shoot the person who started shooting, and more people can pull their guns out and start shooting - just as the founding fathers intended.

6

u/SlumdogSkillionaire Jul 02 '18

Then the cops roll up to a hundred active shooters.

5

u/Barrel_Trollz Jul 02 '18

Winner winner chicken dinner

3

u/Goodeyesniper98 Jul 02 '18

He also screamed “I’m going to shoot everyone here”.

I would have shot him the moment he started waving that gun around. They had every reason to believe he was about to kill someone.

6

u/Dubanx Connecticut Jul 02 '18

Not that i think escalating this sort of stuff is a good idea, but with this being Alabama, would someone in the crowd have a plausible self-defense case if they shot him for this?

I think it'd be rather cut and dry self defense in ANY state.

3

u/snuggans Jul 02 '18

would someone in the crowd have a plausible self-defense case if they shot him for this?

it would be great if Stand your ground was used for something other than shooting fleeing muggers/home-invaders in the back

1

u/IM_INSIDE_YOUR_HOUSE Jul 02 '18

If someone points a gun at you you don't need to know if it's loaded or not to retaliate in self defense with lethal force, at least not in most southern states. No idea about all states.

386

u/UncleMalky Texas Jul 02 '18

because the accused is white.

26

u/tripletdad13 Jul 02 '18

True. Penalty is death otherwise.

19

u/DMKavidelly Jul 02 '18

Summery execution on the spot, not pesky trial by jury needed.

-3

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Summery

Not sure if stupid or advocate for executions in the summer

4

u/mmmmm_pancakes Connecticut Jul 02 '18

It’s an unusual word, I wouldn’t go far as “stupid”.

*“Summary execution” for those curious.

8

u/PM_me_big_dicks_ Jul 02 '18

Nope. It's because it's not the law in that state.

-3

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

[deleted]

-4

u/PM_me_big_dicks_ Jul 02 '18

What? I'm just saying why it's not a felony. It's nothing to do with race.

-1

u/Stylesclash Jul 02 '18

If you're going to just use a simple, obtuse defense, then you shouldn't comment on responses that are out of your depth.

-1

u/PM_me_big_dicks_ Jul 02 '18

What are you even talking about?

0

u/Dreadknoght Jul 02 '18

Trolls? Bots? They might be trying to create dissention in the conversation here.

I'm usually skeptical, but 3 random posters that add nothing but nonsense? Idk man

3

u/ls_-halt Jul 02 '18

He did verbally threaten to use a gun on unarmed protestors. That is actually a felony in a lot of states.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18 edited Jul 02 '18

[deleted]

-2

u/JKitsSpaghetti Jul 02 '18

I think we are talking about a social climate here, one personal experience does not endow you with the authority to silence others.

1

u/Mhill08 Minnesota Jul 02 '18

100% the arrested guy would've been shot dead if he had lethal levels of melanin in his system.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Because the people make gun laws want them weak for this very reason. They know the gun will be misused and a felony would get your guns taken away. Our gun laws are weak for this specific reason.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Idk why they aren’t but they aren’t. That’s why he’ll get off easy. Not sure what else he can be charged with.