The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - How do you deal with an aggressive political protester??

LanceOregon · June 1, 2008, 06:02 PM

Well, since people are already condemning the local police force for having used a taser on the fellow to subdue him, I think that if one of the civilians he sprayed had shot him, that these same folks would be demanding that person's hide.

This did take place at a high traffic downtown mall, where many people work and shop.

I think that this is an important issue to consider, for anyone carrying a handgun. Where do you draw the line at pulling your firearm or not?

It also brings up the issue of whether one should also carry some type of non-lethal weapon like pepper spray or a taser, to compliment your handgun.

I personally also carry one of the second generation Taser civilian models, the Taser C2. They are far smaller and lighter than the first generation models, and thus not at all hard to conceal.

Here is another press report on the incident. This one, however, does not mention anything about spraying people passing by, like the initial TV news report did. It claims that the police arrested the protester for blocking traffic, as well as disorderly conduct. But it does also say that the protester threatened to spray poison into the face of officers, when they spoke to him. That certainly would seem to me to go well outside the protections of the 1st Amendment, which the protesters are all claiming.

Two other protesters did attack the arresting officers, as they tried to arrest the first man. So they were also subdued and arrested as well.

It turns out the arresting officers were part of the city's downtown bicycle patrol. These officer all look very lean, fit, and muscular, as they spend all of their time patrolling the downtown area on bicycle. I certainly would not want to wrestle with any of them.

Here is this other news report:

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms...31&sid=4&fid=2

June 1, 2008, 06:02 PM	#34
LanceOregon Junior member Join Date: May 10, 2008 Location: Oregon Posts: 2,774	Well, since people are already condemning the local police force for having used a taser on the fellow to subdue him, I think that if one of the civilians he sprayed had shot him, that these same folks would be demanding that person's hide. This did take place at a high traffic downtown mall, where many people work and shop. I think that this is an important issue to consider, for anyone carrying a handgun. Where do you draw the line at pulling your firearm or not? It also brings up the issue of whether one should also carry some type of non-lethal weapon like pepper spray or a taser, to compliment your handgun. I personally also carry one of the second generation Taser civilian models, the Taser C2. They are far smaller and lighter than the first generation models, and thus not at all hard to conceal. Here is another press report on the incident. This one, however, does not mention anything about spraying people passing by, like the initial TV news report did. It claims that the police arrested the protester for blocking traffic, as well as disorderly conduct. But it does also say that the protester threatened to spray poison into the face of officers, when they spoke to him. That certainly would seem to me to go well outside the protections of the 1st Amendment, which the protesters are all claiming. Two other protesters did attack the arresting officers, as they tried to arrest the first man. So they were also subdued and arrested as well. It turns out the arresting officers were part of the city's downtown bicycle patrol. These officer all look very lean, fit, and muscular, as they spend all of their time patrolling the downtown area on bicycle. I certainly would not want to wrestle with any of them. Here is this other news report: http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms...31&sid=4&fid=2