I was reading a blog post recently about a photographer being accosted by a group of anarchists (apparently, they are real, I always associated the word with witch or unicorn).
As a photographer, it's sometimes my job to put myself in, let's say, tense situations.
The photographer was shoved by an anarchist protestor after being verbal threatened by her. After being shoved, he punched her and moved away.
These "Black Bloc" anarchists (I seriously giggle a little when I write it) posted on their own blog calling for violence against photographers.
http://anarchistnews.org/content/nyc-ftp-police-press
So, let's pretend that you're a photojournalist covering a protest. It's your job. It's how you make your living. You are told by a protestor to stop taking pictures. You move away from that individual protestor and keep doing your job (which is protected by the Constitution). Then one or maybe two of them come after you (they are anarchists who don't believe in the Constitution). You can't move fast enough through the crowd to get away. Maybe you even tell them that you've stopped and it's not enough.
Pulling a gun in a situation like this seems completely stupid. You're not in war zone. Chances are the person standing next to you by this point isn't even part of the same group. One shot could at the very least injure two or three people.
So, what to do? Knife? Beat them with your camera? Pepper spray? Jet pack? Flare?
If you're not a huge guy and you find yourself in this situation (which could happen pretty easily in NYC right now apparently), what's your tactic? What's your tool?
I know that we always talk about the unlikely nature of multiple assailant violence, but this all hit a little close to home for me.