Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Three people shot, two fatally, at Kenosha riot.

The protest in Kenosha Wisconsin. The Daily Caller/AFP/Getty.

Three people have been shot, and two of those people have died, after a confrontation during the Kenosha Riots. Fox News/AP. The three men who were shot were hit in the head, chest and arm respectively. Viral video shows a man with a long gun fleeing from a mob when he stumbles and falls. Another man comes and attacks him and is shot at close range while a third person does the same thing and also gets shot. It is unclear if the shooter was the only one firing shots or if he has been taken into custody. Many people invovled in the riot were armed with weapons, with some trying to protect businesses.

The Daily Caller was one of several news organizations that had reporters on the scene. One of their reporters, Richie McGinniss, helped to retrieve one of the injured people and brought him to a hospital. 

The incident was captured on video and can be viewed below, but be aware it's graphic content. 

My Comment:
A bit more information I have been able to gather from Twitter and other social media. It seems as though people already know who the shooter was and that he was with a group of Black Lives Matter affiliated libertarians.  Elijah Schaffer, a reporter with The Blaze actually spoke with the alleged suspect before the shooting.




Other witnesses said the first man who was shot, the one shot in the head that was rescued by the Daily Caller reporter, supposedly threw something at the man in the above video and he returned fire. Then he fled after calling the police but was chased by people and that's when the video of the shooting happened.

It's also important to note that the car dealership/garage was being attacked by the rioters. There were people smashing in car windows with baseball bats and causing major damage. Given that a car dealership was burned to the ground on the first night of riots it's fair to say that the property was under threat.




So what's my take on this? It's a total mess and one that should have been avoided. I had thought Governor Tony Evers response was weak and it turns out I was right. Had he deployed more National Guard then I doubt this incident would have even happened. As President Trump said, when the looting starts the shooting starts and this was a predictable outcome of letting rioters run wild.

I'm also somewhat flabbergasted at the accused suspect. I can't imagine being a libertarian while also being affiliated with Black Lives Matter. I'm no libertarian myself but it makes little sense to fight for the rights of people that have zero respect for property and civil rights and, more importantly, hate you because of the color of your skin. But I also know that there are a lot of libertarians out there that hate cops even more than BLM does, which is really saying something. It's why I no longer read Reason, as the comment section disgusted me. EDIT: This appears to be false after more information on the shooter has been released. It seems as though the shooter did not have a connection to BLM. 

However, I do think it's very important to note that this wasn't a case of a white supremacist or even a Republican shooting up a protest. This was one protester shooting up a bunch of other protesters. The motive doesn't appear to be race, assuming there was a motive at all.

As for who is at fault here I am not sure. Without the video of what started this mess it's really hard to determine who is right and who is wrong. If the rumors about the shooter having objects thrown at him are true it might qualify as self defense. A brick to the head can certainly kill you, to say nothing of a Molotov cocktail. However, if he was shooting just to protect property then he is legally screwed as lethal force is not justified in defense of property in Wisconsin. The suspect would have to prove that he was in fear of his life, and that is not clear at all for the first person he shot.

But the other two people he shot? It sure looked like self defense to me. One thing you can't do is try and disarm people as any reasonable person would think that you would turn their weapon on them. The two guys that got shot, one fatally, should have kept that in mind. I would fear for my life in that situation and I think any reasonable person would.

Of course if the first shooting was not justified, which it may very well be, then that throws a huge obstacle in the claims of self defense. In that case the men who got shot could have been performing a legitimate citizens arrest. Wisconsin doesn't have a citizens arrest law per se but the right is recognized by common law. If they thought they were tackling a murder suspect that would likely legally justify their actions.

That doesn't change the fact that it was a colossally stupid thing to do. Even dumber than, say, fighting with the police and then reaching into your car. Trying to win a gunfight while unarmed is a great way to get shot. And if the rumors are true that the first person to get shot was throwing things at an armed man then, again, what did he expect to happen? Regardless of the legality of the situation it was a completely idiotic thing to do.

Not that the shooter is anywhere free of guilt here. I don't have a problem with armed people protecting property but a car dealership isn't worth going to prison for. And generally speaking if someone is throwing things at you, your best option is to retreat (and keep in mind that Wisconsin is not a stand your ground state, outside of cases covered under castle doctrine). Without knowing more about what happened I can't be sure if the shooting was legally justified or not, but either way it was an absolutely stupid and reckless move that will likely result in criminal charges of some sort, up to and including 2nd degree murder.

I do hope that this incident changes things. It should be a clear message to mayors and governors that they can't afford to screw around when people start rioting. If they don't and the cops aren't willing or able to stop arson, vandalism and looting, then people will take steps to do so on their own. And that is going to lead to more incidents like this and more deaths.

And finally, on a more personal note, I have to say that as a resident of the great state of Wisconsin, I am absolutely furious that this incident happened in the first place. I can forgive not having enough cops and National Guard to keep Kenosha safe on the first night this happened. But on day three? Absolutely no excuse. And I sincerely hope that day four ends with the riots suppressed and its leadership thrown in jail. Experience tells me that it will instead just be more of the same...
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