“...Two questions remain. Was the criminal doing something seriously criminal on the day he was shot? And were the shotgun guys just stupid, or were they criminally stupid?
I’m now going to put my helmet on. Because I think some flak might be coming my way too.”
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“Was the criminal doing something SERIOUSLY criminal on the day he was shot?”
Hmmm....Well, I guess it depends upon how SERIOUS you consider physically attacking someone legally open carrying a shotgun and attempting to take that shotgun. Perhaps the degree to which you describe it as serious would depend upon whether you were the person being attacked?
When I said “seriously criminal”, I meant the act that got the chase started in the first place.
If Arbery had just beaten someone up, or had just thrown a Molotov cocktail into a house...then yes, let the armed citizen chase begin.
But it seems that on that day the worst thing Arbery did was trespass, and maybe steal a hammer. Bad things, no doubt. And I guess by George law, shotgun guy could have chased Arbery down and held him at gunpoint. So I will not say at this point that shotgun gun is a criminal. But I will say that he made a foolish decision.
If some guy throws a Molotov cocktail through my window, I’m grabbing a gun and going after him. But if some guy litters on my front lawn, I’m not going to be grabbing a gun. I’ll settle with a call to 911.
Your mileage may vary.