Kid and girl attacks a man randomly. Should adults be allowed to fight back?

i think that most adults should be able to disable (without injury) two children with one arm and maybe a leg with one hand free to call police in order to let the childrens' parents know. Or if you are of the Hammurabi mind set, thai kick them both in the face and let them wake up later to find their way home.

It's not a good example by the elders to "fight back" against these VERY disrespectful kids. That's why society is falling apart because the kids don't know their places. Perhaps using a counter measure of "pushing back" (or defense only) like children in a playground could be a way to deal with these little thugs. Adults should be allowed to fight back when they are being harmed and injured. Sure, by all means, spank these brats in public to humiliate them as a reminder they too will get old and defenseless. What a shameful world.

This is why people need to be armed.

Well if these kids are hitting on an older person, then it is most likely their parents don't care what they do and especially since it was kids of a different race from the man, you know their parents would be all over that with a lawsuit demanding he give them this and do that if he had struck them or even laid a finger on them. When it comes to kids like that their parents think their kids can do no wrong and the man must have done something to provoke them. Sad, but true! There are too many kids these days that get away with too much stuff. Plus, they don't get disciplined for most of it. I know if we had done something like that when I was a kid, we would have got our butts beat for it. Kids these days (well alot of them) have no respect for anyone. Sad that our younger generations are and have turned out the way they are.

Horrible but typical 21st century teenagers, no respect for anything, while the parents are stuck both working just to manage, well then tv, school raises your kids for ya

this is exactly why i don't leave the house without a stun gun ... aggressively touch me for any reason and you'll get lit up. after being assaulted in a public laundromat, enough was enough. video on scene but none directed in the area of the attack (can you believe, we were right in front of a door) ... anyway, assailant fled before pd arrived and to this day, assailant unidentified. that will never happen again.
even after the pd releases my 9m from ballistics, i will still carry the stunner ... let these punks try something.

reply to post by TomJoad

while that may be true for "most" adults, i am one of those mid-centurians who is quite petite. Most 12yr olds are twice my size. and yes, a little martial arts direction is a good thing but in this man's location/situation, that could have likely invited bigger problems. tis truly sad what our world is becoming.

Sorry but I have to downright laugh at the people here who think they, being adults, can ‘subdue’ a kid with one arm tied behind their backs and without the kid (or them) getting injured.

You’ve got to be kidding me right?

Get your head out of the television and into real life cause you have NO idea what you’re in for. Trying to 'subdue' a burlap bag a wildcats - on fire - would be easier and result in less damage than trying to ‘harmlessly subdue' a 12 year old.

Some kid hits on me, especially when the situation is being filmed? I'd bust 'em in the nose and not hold the punch. Hit on me will ya, ya little freak...

peace - Yeah, funny signing this post peace, but, sometimes there’s a place for a good right cross...

We understand the logic of passing a test to earn a driver's license. I don't know why, but here in scenic NJ folks who sell real estate must be licensed. Even need a license to cut hair.

But anyone can have a child, whether they are qualified or not. That's not fair to the children. Children deserve a good upbringing with love, patience and discipline. Children that are looked after do not behave in such an unruly manner. People that are not going to raise a child well should not be allowed the raising, housing or supervising of children.

If they attacked me they would likely trigger my berserk rage and hopefully they would not be dead afterwards but they likely would have some broken bones because I hit that hard when I was a little kid. Well it was only teeth I broke or knocked out. I once had 8 or 10 kids gang up on me and attack me when I was about the same age. 3 or 4 went to the hospital. I was ready to kill someone but it was a survival situation. About half of them ran away before I could get to them. Unfortunately with the way things are now, the police would probably lock me up in jail unless other sensible adults realized I was attacked and it was self defense. If they didn't immediately release me, well I'm not going to post what I may do after that. I would want the kids and anyone supporting the evil kids to know true fear of attacking an innocent person again. In reality if someone attacked me for no good reason and they died as a result of me taking self defense, I do not believe I would feel sorry for the attacker. I wouldn't want to deal with everyone else but at least it would set an example of why not to attack strangers. Someone very well trained in martial arts and combat skills may be able to disable someone without that much effort. Now if they attack a strong guy without a lot of training, accidents can happen.

I do believe everyone has a right to self defense. Everyone is not a martial arts expert so the fight could get rough.

reply to post by SaturnFX


The age of the attackers is going to be irrelevent, as will the gender. He has every right to defend himself using reasonable force.

With that being said though, DC is Federal so their laws are gonna be somewhat different. I am not sure if a person has a right to stand their ground in DC. Some states require individuals to retreat if they can do so, while other states do not have a requirement for individuals under attack to retreat.

If there is no duty to retreat then the guy is justified in defending himself in a manner that is reasonable, which means up to and including death if the situation is bad enough (weapons involved (gun/knife/club/sock with quarters/ ec etc).

If there is a duty to retreat, and the victim has opprotunities to disengage, he would be required under law to take those opprotunities and end the encounter. Failure to retreat when a person can might result in charges against the "victim" as well.

If there is a duty to retreat, but the victim is unable to, or the attackers dont allow. an opprotunity to retreat, then the vitcims actions to defend himself is valid and justifiable.

This has been an issue in several states where crimes are comitted by minors. It was so bad in one state that a law was passed where if adults use a minor to commit a crime, then the adults will be charged with that crime whether they were present ofr it or not. In some areas the change was because of gangs, in others it was because of theft rings.

There is a disconnect with people in terms of what they can and cannot do when dealing with minors, and to an extent partial fault lies with Schools and Family Services who teach children that an adult cannot touch them in any manner (disciplinary actions), which is techniclly not correct. This leads to children who are under the wrong impression they can do what they want because their parents / guardians cannot do anything to stop them outside of being told to stop.

If I were the officer investigating we woud interview witnesses, the victim, gather all CCTV / cell phone video etc. Since the assailants are minors, and again depending on state, parents would have to consent to their children being interviewed, and in other states only a juvenille officer can interview children.

If at the end the evidence supports the charge the minors attacked the guy, the next step would be to look at the severity of the attack and what if any injuries occured. The reason for this is to determine if the minors should be charged as minors, or if they should be charged as adults.

Long story short - whether the attacker is 14 or 84, a person has a right to defend themselves from an assault. The manner in which that defense can occur is dependant upon what state you are in (duty to retreat vs duty to not retreat).

(Note - The link below will take you to WestLaws site. The District contracts with this group to update and maintain their criminal statue database - The link is the offical site of DC Criminal Law).
Criminal Codes of the District of Columbia

Side Note - (In any statute you will find laws that contain 2 key words - OR as well as AND. If it uses OR, the law is stating there are different levels not reliant upon each other in order to commit a crime. If AND is used, in order to be in violation of that law, a person must meet ALL criteria listed)

Division IV - Title 22 - Subtitle I - Chapter IV
Assault

22-404 Assault or threatened assault in a menacing manner; stalking.

a)(1) Whoever unlawfully assaults, or threatens another in a menacing manner, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or be imprisoned not more than 180 days, or both.


(2) Whoever unlawfully assaults, or threatens another in a menacing manner, and intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes significant bodily injury to another shall be fined not more than $3,000 or be imprisoned not more than 3 years, or both. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "significant bodily injury" means an injury that requires hospitalization or immediate medical attention.

This is from Criminal Statutes and is listed with the possibility they will be charged as an adult. If they are not, it will fall under juvenile law, and there is no telling what they can and cannot do in that system.

I would break the arms of both of them. They would learn their lesson and be unable to hit anyone else for a long time. Allowing them to continue will teach them that this behavior is "ok". Punishment will teach them to think twice about their actions.

I am getting concerned at the amount of videos we are seeing, where individuals are quick to get their cameras out to shoot the action, but not so quick to lend a helping hand to those being attacked or in distress.

a little aikido in this moment would have gone a long way...

...(second)

If that was me in that situation I would of fought back.
The way I see it whether your a female or teenage kid if you want to come and fight me like a man than expect to be dealt with like a man.

Originally posted by sonofliberty1776
I would break the arms of both of them.

You are now 74 years of age.

What do you do now?

reply to post by Exuberant1
My dad is 72. He is a retired frogman and SEAL. He got me into jujitsu and taichi when I was a kid. I know he could still take two punks like that, and I hope to be in the same condition when I am his age. If I am not, well I always carry pepper spray, a buck knife, and usually have either a pistol or stun gun(depends on where I plan to be, yes I do have a CCW). At 74, I would not hesitate to use lethal force against two teenage punks assaulting me. Luckily, I am not that age now and can use a more measured amount of force to contain the situation.

should adults fight back? well they should certainly defend themselves. If a couple teens or younger tried to jump me... I'm going to grab them by the ankles and carry them to their mother. Then perhaps I'll press charges if the mother is irrate about it. I have the right to defend myself, and if their horrible parenting causes their child/ren to attack an adult, I will parent them on the shamefull upside down carry back home.. and I will not feel worried of being in trouble, its the child who will be in trouble.. What is happening to the world. ?

It's quite simple, if that was me, I would pull a blade and plunge it into the little darkies' neck. They have to be taught that their inherited tribal mentalism is not acceptable in cultured society.

Originally posted by Myendica
If a couple teens or younger tried to jump me... I'm going to grab them by the ankles and carry them to their mother. Then perhaps I'll press charges if the mother is irrate about it. I have the right to defend myself, and if their horrible parenting causes their child/ren to attack an adult, I will parent them on the shamefull upside down carry back home.. and I will not feel worried of being in trouble, its the child who will be in trouble..

It sounds like you are fantasizing.

There is alot of that going on in this thread, so don't worry - it is not like you stick out for doing it.