Summary

At a Lafayette, Indiana anti-Trump rally Saturday, a man pulled an assault-style rifle after clashing with protesters who blocked his truck at a Third Street intersection.

Video shows the man in a MAGA hat yelling at protesters, prompting another man—angered by the confrontation with women—to intervene.

The two exchanged shouts before the protester headbutted the man. He returned to his truck, retrieved a rifle, and reentered the crowd.

Police detained but released him, citing self-defense. The “Hands Off!” rally drew nearly 1,000 people and ended early amid safety concerns.

  • mhague@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    If the game is about driving around with a gun, provoking people into hitting you, and then going back and getting your gun to kill them, it would be very easy to go around deleting Trump supporters. You know, if not for the police / government being on their side.

    That dude could’ve stayed in his truck and waited for people to walk by. Instead he ended up bloody and teary-eyed. And he’s the one with the fucking assault rifle.

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      Bullies aren’t used to people hitting back. They’re so scared of losing face they’d rather carry a gun and possibly kill someone to prove what a badass they are.

  • Baphomet_The_Blasphemer@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Self-defense requires there to be an ongoing threat to your or someone else’s immediate safety. If he was able to leave the altercation, head to his truck to retrieve his rifle, and then return to the situation that’s not self-defense, its premeditation.

    • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      I fucking love you guys. Like your head in a book being like awksuelly…

      Reality is that guy could have killed that protestor and charges would be dropped. If not, trump would pardon him. There are no consequences

      Stop trying to be correct. Just fucking win for a change. Being correct is not a win in today’s world. Way too many people that are wrong who keep winning.

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      Stand your ground laws have completely wrecked the premise surrounding threats and threat avoidance. Now it’s people being assholes and escalating the assholery until someone gets pissed and throws a punch and then the shooting starts. Doesn’t matter if it’s road rage or fighting over a parking space. No consideration that anyone involved could have walked away at any point before things got bad.

      The duty to retreat and use a firearm as a last resort is dying a quick death in most red states. Even in NY where shooting someone in self defense was often a trip straight to jail now ends up with people not being charged.

      Basically, you need to Han Solo the thing most times these days. Shoot first and you’re not guilty.

    • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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      2 days ago

      It’s self defense, because the cops are on the same side as the guy…

      Same reason you never see Miley Cyrus and Hanna Montana in the same room at the same time.

    • hopesdead@startrek.website
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      2 days ago

      He’s probably white and identifies as CIS male. In today’s reality, that qualifies as self-defense to police.

  • Noxy@pawb.social
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    2 days ago

    I bet if someone drew a concealed pistol on him after he pulled out his rifle the cops would NOT consider it self defense.

    ACAB.

      • qarbone@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        He wasn’t. Because he didn’t kill that CEO. My man’s innocent.

        Whoever did happen to off that CEO certainly did everyone a favor tho

        • daepicgamerbro69@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          as far as i am concerned Thompson’s body just did that weird bullet thing 3 times in a row. Seems to be a latent condition in most billionaires.

          • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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            2 days ago

            Pre-existing condition, I’m thinking.

            The body has a way of shutting down illegitimate bullets.

            • Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee
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              20 hours ago

              He died of acute lead poisoning. He was born in a leaded house with leaded gasoline on the farm. The bullets didn’t do anything.

          • MBech@feddit.dk
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            2 days ago

            Tonight at 11: Is being rich bad for your health? 99% of the population seem to think so, and it’s not why you think!

    • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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      2 days ago

      No, he didn’t. We were having breakfast that morning, when it’s alleged he killed a mass murderer.

      • Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee
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        20 hours ago

        And right after that, he was with me playing video games and chilling. We played some classic games that he was too young to enjoy first game. He enjoyed it. I then made him a nice spaghetti lunch.

  • ToadOfHypnosis@lemm.ee
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    3 days ago

    If you can leave the situation safely - like being able to go back to your truck - it’s not self defense.

    • adarza@lemmy.ca
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      3 days ago

      yup. as soon as he grabbed the gun and went back to threaten people with it… he committed the felony.

    • barneypiccolo@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      Self-defense isn’t going back to your vehicle to get a weapon to come back and terrorize people. That’s assault.

      If he had returned with his weapon, and someone killed him, THAT would be self-defense.

    • MBech@feddit.dk
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      3 days ago

      Doesn’t matter. They even determined that planning to get yourself in an unsafe situation with the purpose of shooting protesters, travelling across states with a gun to again very intentionally get yourself in a situation where you’d need to use it, is still self defense. Even when you shoot someone without actually being in danger, it becomes self defense when other people are trying to stop you. All of this, as long as your victims are protesting against right-wing policies, has been determined in court to be self defense.

      • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        I wonder if I could legally defend myself in this manner at one of the neo nazi rallies in Springfield or Charlottesville? Somehow I doubt the police would characterize it the same way.

  • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
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    2 days ago

    Protestors should bear arms. Soon enough, the Rittenhouses of the right will need to be put down when they behave like rabid DOGEs.

    Conservatives escalate, and must be met in kind when they do so.

    • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      That would require forward thinking. Protestors don’t do that. Not on the left. The guy that head butt this guy didn’t think beyond that moment.

    • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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      2 days ago

      Protestors should bear arms.

      I do. Concealed, for the moment, because my liberal NYS made it illegal to keep and bear arms while exercising your first amendment right.

      And, I’m of the wrong political persuasion to test that law.

    • daepicgamerbro69@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      hey, new guy. Searg said you bring him donuts ASAP. also while you go there stop by the other department and tell the guys there that boss wants to entrap even more mentally ill muslims into trying to join ISIS this month.

  • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    He will shoot next time. Like a not so smart missile they just aimed him at decent human beings.

  • Rhoeri@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Inserts himself into a situation he wasn’t invited to, or welcome at, instigates people for the purpose of “justified” retaliation- whips out his loaded lib-killer , and is summarily released by law enforcement.

    I’d say those folks dun’ got Rittenhoused!

    • painfulasterisk1@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      I agree with you. That’s not how “self-defense works”. If the snowflake geot hit, walks away from the situation, gets armed, and returns to attack the person that attacked such a fragile sheep, this is not self-defense, it’s retaliation.

      The sheep crybaby and whoever proclaimed this as self-defense are just a bunch of puppets.

      • MrBananaGrabber@lemmy.today
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        2 days ago

        That’s most likely why the police changed the order of events around:

        “During the event, an adult male driver attempted to make a lawful turn at the intersection of Third Street andColumbia Street when his path was obstructed by protesters standing in the roadway. A verbal altercationensued between the driver and protesters,” the release said. "The situation escalated when the driver exited his vehicle and was subsequently pushed and battered by individuals in the crowd. The driver then retrieved a firearm from his vehicle in what he described as an act of self-defense.

        “He did not discharge the weapon and promptly returned it to his truck. Shortly after, a male protester approachedthe driver and head-butted him, causing injury,” police said.

        Even though multiple protesters described it otherwise. ACAB.

        Edit: punctuationification

        • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          It’s not a lawful turn if there is a pedestrian in the path of the vehicle.

          There was an altercation and then he retreated and came back with a firearm. That’s not self defense, that’s brandishing.

          I can understand the police not making that determination at the time, their goal should be to de-escalate and separate the conflicting parties, but they should send someone round to pick this guy up and book him for the felony he committed afterwards.

          • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            We know what side the cops are on.

            If someone had done that to protesters at a Drag Queen Story Hour or something, the cops would have slaughtered them.

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    How does going back to your vehicle and retrieving a n assault rifle count as self defense? That’s premeditated at that point if he were to use it.

    The difference between this, and any other mass shooting is just whether this guy decided to pull the trigger, which he obviously wanted too.

  • the_q@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    Self defense would be a headbutt back or fists, not the AmRepublican-14.

    • sunshine@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      there’s video, no one was doing anything to him. he got out of his SUV, started yelling at people, returned to the vehicle, got back out with the weapon at his side. self defense would have been (a) for literally anyone to have threatened him and (b) for him to simply leave the scene.

      • Wilco@lemm.ee
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        2 days ago

        It is Indiana. Basically wild west style gun laws. You buy the gun, its yours … done. No permit, no concealed carry, nothing. You bought the gun, take it where you want. Pretty much anywhere. If people are yelling at you on the street then Indiana’s stand your ground style law basically kicks in. The state is very much “fuck around and find out”.

    • jared@mander.xyz
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      3 days ago

      He fucked around and found out most of them were exceedingly reasonable, except the one that busted his face 😊

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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      3 days ago

      Judging by the US rhetoric over the past few years … protestors of any side for any political movement, whether left or right, legitimate or not, moral or immoral … are figuring out that you need a gun to stand your ground.

      It would be easy to destabilize any protest by just drawing a gun … then someone else answers the challenge and pulls their own gun … then more people join in … next you have a Mexican stand off… and given enough occurrences you now have a fire fight.

      It’s so volatile because of the freedom to own guns.

      It’s like watching a group of people fighting with torches next to an open pool of gasoline.

  • Ileftreddit@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I mean lots of people open carry. Hopefully we don’t get to this point, but if someone threatens someone else with firearm, lots of localities justify lethal force at that point (one must always assume a firearm is loaded)