He was not then able to blow up the bombs in his shoes.
You said — “Richard Reid’s threat was instantly addressed by the passengers.”
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Yeah, and that one I can also see, from the context of the situation. He wasn’t directly attacking or threatening to attack someone else (other than to blow them up as soon as he completed the action). And even though that’s a frightening and threatening situation (once you recognize what is happening), it’s still not *directly* at you. It may be “at you” once you engage in the struggle, and I’m sure it was. But, you do have a bit of an advantage in a situation like that. Other people are close by, he’s somewhat confined in close quarters and can’t move very easily. He’s much more easily contained and all it took were a few passengers.
Thus, it’s very understandable in that particular situation. Cho was definitely not like that. He had “distance” and room to move and instant action against people (i.e., shooting immediately without a word), and instilling *immediate fear* — because the first thing they know is someone is dead. It’s not necessarily that the first thing they see is him entering and having a discussion, but no — by the time you really “register” in your head what is happening (and it does take a bit...) then he’s already shot maybe one, maybe two. Then, you see *directly* that the threat is *instant death*.
That’s very much different than Reid, and as I said, very understandable...