yeliw said:
StercusCaput said:
I said "maybe hopped up on meth" as a plausible possibility that the student might have to consider. I said maybe, you said probably...world of difference, thanks for misquoting. The man was in PRISON not JAIL. There is a difference, people in prison are career criminals. It is rare to come out of prison without the ability to fight because you have to learn how to defend yourself in prison.
HE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE IF HE DIDN'T ENTER THE HOUSE - Open door or not, it isn't his house and he doesn't belong there. Since you like to throw around the word respect, my parents taught me to RESPECT other people's property by not entering their home unannounced, oper door or not. They also taught me that visitors should use the FRONT DOOR and KNOCK or RING THE DOORBELL. If the man had amicable intent he should have been using the front door.
I am not profiling, the man was uninvited and in their house at night. So what do you think his intent was? Borrowing sugar?
Please tell me what candy land world you live in where late night intruders into your home are considered unannounced guests deserving of respect.
God forbid you ever wake up and find someone in your house at night. If this does happen, please be sure to come back and tell us you showed him respect.
You again sidestep my point: Why do you believe that this man's life was worth as little as what he had stolen (nothing at the time he was confronted)? In taking the actions he did, he wouldn't have gotten the death penalty or even anything close to life in prison. But you cheer on the end he came to, does this mean you are in favor of those who rob houses being killed?
Again you make assumptions. Where does it state anywhere that it was at night? And if I have a group of three friends with me we'll kick the sorry son of a *****'s ass, but we won't slice him up like Jason Vorhees.
In no way are they deserving of respect. That doesn't mean that once they enter my house my respect for human life goes out of the window.
You seem to be confusing this situation with another; "wake up to find someone in your house at night"? How is that what happened? I don't blame the kid for what he did, I'm just saying it could have been handled better, so that he didn't end up a killer.
How you keep adding details that were never in the original article makes me wonder if this is not just you telegraphing your own fears or regrets onto another situation.
I'm going to finish this with: I go with the dark knight on these situations, force is fine as long as it is non-lethal. Don't pick up a weapon capable of killing someone unless you intend to kill someone.
First, I am not cheering the fact a person died, I am not a savage. I am not even saying the person deserved to die per se. What I am saying is the student had a right to defend his property. The possibility of death is a legitimate occupational hazard of being a burglar. The burglar took a risk coming in to the home and he paid for it with his life. Maybe the burglar should have looked into a safer, legitimate, and legal vocation.
I don't think you, me, or anyone else on this board should take the liberty of criticizing the student for how this was handled. I don't think a John Hopkins student (I AM making an assumption that he is a medical student based on the school) was looking to kill someone that morning. If he is a John Hopkins student I would venture to guess that he is looking for a career in SAVING lives or at the very least making life better for sick people.
You said "... force is fine as long as it is non-lethal. Don't pick up a weapon capable of killing someone unless you intend to kill someone."
First, based on the pantagraph.com article, he selected that weapon before he went out into the garage to investigate why the door was open. He didn't know what he was up against at the time. In that situation you are going to take the best thing you got. Second, tell me what weapon isn't capable of killing someone? You can kill someone with a fork if you stab them in the right place. What should he have used, a Nerf gun? Maybe the sword was the only thing he had to defend himself. He didn't have the luxury of hind sight at the time. Someone was in his house and he confronted the attacker. I am sure that he was in "fight or flight" mode. People in those situations tend to act on more primal instincts. It is a scientific fact and I would be happy to share research with you on "fight or flight". Should he have said "hang on, I see you don't have a weapon. Let me put this sword down and get something more appropriate"? Your criticisms of the student are made in the safety of your home, behind your computer and I think it is ridiculous that you expect a different outcome from that perch or yours. Again, I doubt that student was looking to kill someone, but that is what happened and that is a risk you have to accept when you break into a house at night.
Oh yeah, the time of day. "Again you make assumptions. Where does it state anywhere that it was at night? "
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/15/samurai.sword.killing/index.html
"Baltimore, Maryland, police received a phone call shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday about a suspicious person, and an off-duty officer arrived at the scene with campus security, city police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said."
http://pantagraph.com/news/article_ac7c8fcc-a20c-11de-8cb4-001cc4c002e0.html
"Campus security and an off-duty city officer responding to a call for a suspicious person in the area around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday heard screams to call police, Guglielmi said. The man died at the scene, but police are not yet releasing his name, he said.
Michael Hughes, 43, who lives two doors down from the house where the slaying occurred, said he was getting ready for bed at around 1:30 a.m. when he heard screams from the rear of the home."
1:20 AM - 1:30 AM: around here, we call that nighttime. Might be daytime if you live on the South Pole.
"How you keep adding details that were never in the original article makes me wonder if this is not just you telegraphing your own fears or regrets onto another situation." Did you read a different article than the one presented in the original post? Based on the fact that you didn't even notice what time this took place I am starting to wonder.
