Quote (Santara @ Aug 26 2020 03:23pm)
Which is why I point out, this could boil down to the crux issue of the legality of armed militias as a response to a government leaving the citizens helpless against violent looters.
The entire logical basis for self-defense being denied for proactive involvement is the state's monopoly on law enforcement, that vigilantism is illegal because its the state's exclusive responsibility.
When the state abdicates that responsibility, the only thing protecting the people and their livelihoods are the rooftop koreans like this guy
Its a question as much philosophical as it is legal. Can the state declare that citizens aren't allowed to defend communities when the state won't?
I figured this would be in your wheelhouse of hypotheticals
/e to elaborate: Say the facts line up and courts agree that the kid's actions were entirely in self-defense {within that immediate moment}, and the whole basis of prosecuting him hinges upon arguing that his decision to travel to the area with a rifle voids his justification. Then the prosecutor would be arguing that he assumed criminal liability by the act of traveling there armed, becoming responsible for any consequences. The argument would be that he had no right to act as a vigilante militiaman and protect homes/businesses. If he had such a right, if he was justified in arming himself and protecting someone else's community, he can't be prosecuted. The central question then being whether vigilantism during a riot when the government has willfully failed to protect the people, is inherently illegal.
This post was edited by Goomshill on Aug 26 2020 02:35pm