On crime, “progressive” DAs, and self-defense
You may have heard of the murder of Brianna Kupfer:
Los Angeles police Lt. John Radke said Kupfer was working alone inside the store around 1:30 p.m. when she was killed.
“She sent a text to a friend letting her know that there was someone inside the location that was giving her a bad vibe,” Radke said. “Regrettably, that person did not see the text immediately.”
Her body was found in the store by a customer about 15 minutes after the text was sent. Radke said the attack appeared to be completely random and unprovoked…
Smith was seen on surveillance video walking away from the store through a rear alley. Surveillance cameras also caught him casually shopping about 30 minutes later at a nearby 7-Eleven store. He was also spotted shopping at other stores before and after the killing, police said.
I don’t quite understand why the article seems to be indicating that, had the friend seen the text right away, it would have made any difference. Whether or not that friend would have called the police because Kupfer felt a bad vibe (and I think probably not), I’m not at all sure that the police would have responded had the friend done so.
Smith is said to have a history of mental illness. However, he also was a habitual criminal, or at least suspected criminal:
Smith, who is jailed in lieu of $2 million bail, has an extensive criminal history dating back more than a decade, with more than a dozen arrests in three states.
He has previous charges out of California, North Carolina and South Carolina. Online records obtained by FOX News show at least 11 arrests in Charleston, S.C., dating back to 2010, including a pending case for allegedly discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle on Nov. 13, 2019.
Smith has a long history of arrests. But as you can see in this more detailed article that purports to list all of them, some are rather minor and some far more serious. But it doesn’t appear that he’s served any time in prison. Why not? We don’t know. It’s not because all his arrests occurred in Los Angeles County under George Gascon, either. Many occurred in South Carolina in particular, and some in North Carolina.
“Progressive” LA DA Gascon has set bail at two million dollars, and has said this:
“Those who show no compassion for human life will face serious consequences,” Gascón said in a statement. “The murder of Brianna Kupfer has left Los Angeles County devastated and my office is reaching out to her family to provide any services they may need.”
Gascon is eager to distance himself from this one, and in fact from Smith’s arrest record it doesn’t appear that LA is the main jurisdiction that dropped the ball on Smith. But Gascon has created an atmosphere of winking at and excusing criminals, and that probably mattered, too. Plus, see this commentary on the situation:
Los Angeles district attorney George Gascón would gleefully charge someone who acted even in obvious self-defense if the politics of the situation demanded it, which is to say if the racial calculus met certain criteria. The same is true of Kim Foxx in Chicago, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco, and any of the other “progressive” prosecutors holding office across the country.
Consider what the response would have been had Brianna Kupfer, after sending the ominous text message to her friend, had armed herself with a gun and shot her assailant at the first sign of his knife. Today in some quarters she would be branded as a privileged white girl from Pacific Palisades who fired out of inordinate fear of a black man innocently shopping for furniture. Absent video of the man assaulting her, Gascón would likely have charged her.
But she would be alive, which is better than what actually happened.
I have a quibble with that: from what I’ve read, it seems that knife attacks can be very swift and even armed police have been killed by knife-wielding criminals who only showed the knife at the last moment. But the basic idea is correct, which is that self-defense has been strongly discouraged in many jurisdictions, and that in self-defense cases the race of the participants seems to matter greatly to “progressive” DAs.
A similar, albeit less tragic, story from Seattle.
https://mynorthwest.com/3322117/rantz-seattle-man-live-tweeted-hostage-taking-he-keeps-getting-out-of-jail/
In my mind, “casually shopping” before and especially after his “random and unprovoked” murder calls into question just how mentally ill this guy may be.
But in any case, mentally ill murderers should be executed and quickly. No bail, move their trial to the head of the que. Limited appeal and that strictly for an obvious mistrial.
Housing the violently incurable is an exercise in futility.
Never bring a gun to a knife fight if he is closer than 21 ft (3 seconds) away IIRC. Run away!
“self-defense has been strongly discouraged in many jurisdictions” neo
That in effect denies our very right to life. At their first opportunity, a failure by SCOTUS to rule that any impediment to self-defense is utterly unconstitutional would invalidate the entire Federal Government.
If effectively, we have no right to life, then we have no rights whatsoever and are nothing more than disposable property.
In which case, “when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”
In the last physical fight I was in the aggressor had a knife and I was unaware that he had it. Fortunately, when he lunged at me I tackled him low and hard and then wrapped him up, immobilizing his arms and legs. As I tightened my grip he reflexively dropped the knife. Had I known he had it I would have jumped back from his lunge and then ran.
Knives are awful and very effective weapons. And easily concealed.
It is such a tragedy this young woman was killed in the prime of her life. When I was her age society still knew it was wrong to leave a young woman, alone and defenseless, in a business that could attract criminals (any business with merchandise or a cash register attracts criminals).
No guarantee they can’t run faster…
So, always bring a gun to a knife fight. Never point a gun at someone you are not ready to kill. Soon as they pull a knife, cover them with the gun. The instant they start to move toward you, open fire center mass and don’t stop until they’re down.
That 21 foot distance is about right, some will even advise 30 feet. The issue is perception-response time. If one has the pistol in his hand and the assailant with the knife makes his move, there is at least a 3/4 of a second (0.75 sec) delay in firing the gun; longer if the gun is held at your side, and even longer if it is initially holstered.
Secondly, bullets often miss. Check out the next police shooting and compare the number of shots fired vs. hits. And the police practice. A reasonably adept knife fighter will not miss; you will get hurt and if not killed right off, your ability to further defend yourself will be degraded.
Should you succeed in defending yourself, the following legal battles will make that assault seem like child’s play.
It’s an interesting story, and I don’t have much to say that neo didn’t cover. But on neo’s quibble; it is an interesting hypothesis that had she over-reacted, even before Smith did anything that video or audio evidence would support as violent; would she have been prosecuted after the police discovered the knife on his person and seen his arrest record?
I think the answer is yes, because that is essentially the Arbery case, except they did seek danger while Kupfer did not.
As for the text message, I think the author just meant to note the speed and progression of events, but that would have been done better by simply saying she texted somebody of her concerns 15 minutes before being found dead.
When I was her age society still knew it was wrong to leave a young woman, alone and defenseless, in a business that could attract criminals (any business with merchandise or a cash register attracts criminals).
It was a furniture store in the middle of the day.
Forty years ago I was on a jury in the now infamous Hennepin County that found a man guilty of kidnapping resulting in injury, robbery, and criminal sexual conduct. He served two and a half years. He was out of prison for about 10 minutes before he was again convicted of criminal sexual conduct. More people need to spend more time in jail. Until that happens the criminals will continue to have their way with us.
There is a time-honoured way of greatly reducing this kind of predation. It works even better than *adopts hushed reverent tones* The Law.
Reprisals. Targeted or not, depending on the degree of outrage committed.
Current Ideology aside, the Law doesn’t need to protect and provide justice for Whites because the White populace is so cowed and neutered that it cannot even think in these terms anymore.
Remember where the Law originates from: a society’s need to monopolise violence for the greater good. With Whites being neutered and become just passive sheep to the slaughter, what need have they of the Law?
Instead the Law works to protect the Really Dangerous Unlawful People.
Well knock me down with a feather. Looks like the Law works for the scary folks. Who woulda thunk? Clearly my peasant brain is missing great chunks of the Twelve Tables and Blackstone here…. but strikes me that Step 1 in getting out of this hole is to Become Fearsome and Feared.
How sick are these DA’s etc. I have trouble sleeping if I get mad at my wife…
@Geoffrey Britain Yup!
I’ve seen a lot of police videos of sudden knife attacks as part of my work training and they are terrifyingly quick.
Geoffrey Britain,
I’ll trust my feet over my ability to handle a firearm any day of the week. One should play to one’s strengths.
Way, way back when I was a senior in college – and that was oh so last century – my roommate and I went out to the corner convenience store to buy some late night sodas as we were expecting to be up late studying. This was in an urban setting – Crystal City, VA.
We wanted to get to the store before it closed at midnight. The clerk, a middle-aged woman, asked us if we would mind staying until closing time as there were a couple of other young men in the store who had been “hanging out a little too long looking for nothing in particular.” (the clerk’s words) We stayed until she closed up. They left without buying anything.
Clearly these other young men had given her a “bad vibe” and she asked us to stay for safety. Whether our staying prevented something or was she just too cautious because she was there alone we will never know. But, I do believe people should listen to their gut feelings sometimes.
It is a shame that Kupfer couldn’t/didn’t do anything else other than send a text. Or maybe she did try something – like move to a back room to lock herself in and that was what caused the attack? We will most likely never know what caused him to kill her. It is a disgusting shame that someone like Smith is out and about causing all sorts of trouble; especially murder.
A long time ago when I was a young and stupid pup, my girlfriend and I were trying to catch the last monorail from the Seattle Center back downtown. When we got to the platform, there was a man and woman sitting on a bench. I noticed the woman was getting more and more agitated and kept saying no. I got curious and despite the objections of my city-girl girlfriend walked over and leaned on the railing about 10 feet away looking at the guy. He looked me over head-to-toe and got up and left. The woman said “Thank you”. I never said a word.
Geoffrey hopes or assumes he will see or notice the threat before the attacker closes within striking range. And assumes a lot of things, and although it is better to be and armed, it is even better not to be within striking distance of the blade IIRC. See Moros Browning 1911.
Re: 21 foot rule (knife attack)
“Justified” (the tv show) covered this. A great moment in a great show.
–Justified”, “21 Foot Rule”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wzAGE4quWU
Powerline referenced a story that gives some insight into the criminal mentality (such as it is), which may apply even more to the mentally ill who have at least learned their lessons from being granted nearly zero negative consequences for bad actions.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/01/whos-carjacking.php
“These young [and very violent] career criminals seem to have absorbed the zeitgeist when it comes to law enforcement:
Upon his arrest, Wertman told police that they should be “out arresting murderers, not people who steal cars.”
Hey, it’s only a property crime! Why are you getting upset? That attitude is consistent with with Black Lives Matter ideology, the defund the police movement, liberal theories of crime and punishment, and the general tolerance of lawlessness that we have seen in many American cities.”
Geoffrey Britain on January 24, 2022 at 4:11 pm:
“But in any case, mentally ill murderers should be executed and quickly. No bail, move their trial to the head of the que.”
I am unalterably opposed to state-performed capital punishment; I have seen, up close and personal, way too much incompetence, corruption and sloppiness in the “criminal justice system,” from police actions to prosecutor behavior to seletion of jury members, to place any trust whatsoever in the “process.” Government should not, at any time and in any place and fo rany reason, be allowed to exact that level of punishment.
I am, however, fully supportive and in complete agreement with the potential application of of the death penalty by the intended victim at the scene of the crime while the crime is being committed; the victim knows without any doubt whom is posing the direct and immediate threat to their life or safety and the degree of threat so posed.
That “moment of clarity” cannot neither be duplicated nor accurately represented at distance.
I strongly recommend one learn both how to prevent becoming selected as a victim and how to successfully deal with the situation should that measure prove unsuccessful.
If summary execution is to be performed post-crime it should be applied directly, quickly and without hesitation to those whose official actions seek to limit citizens’ ability to protect themselves.
@huxley – loved that scene, but it doesn’t real “prove” the 21 foot rule.
It’s funny how many “Justified” episodes come up in that search. Awesome that they’re reviving the series.
21 Foot Rule in action
https://youtu.be/2h0-q_IJbxE
21 Foot RULE is like the Pirate Code, it’s more a guideline
https://youtu.be/bjfb79mZLT8
NSFW / GRAPHIC – Knife wielder vs Armed Police (lot’s of very bad procedure here, like setting up a situation where friendly fire could occur.)
https://youtu.be/KISscto8Xko?t=17
Another thing, the most import survival instinct we have is the fear we feel in our gut…
People often over-ride their fear with thinking like “well, if I call the police on this black guy that I have a ‘creepy feeling’ about and it turns out to be nothing, I might get fired or ostracized. I don’t want to appear racist…”
https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Fear-Survival-Signals-Violence/dp/0440226198
There is a bodycam video of a woman LEO shooting (dead) a male knife attacker from 2020 in Michigan. She was not surprised, but it took many hits to stop him; she had to back up while firing, clear a malfunction, continue firing, and he finally collapsed and died. Both were white so it wasn’t a national incident.
Erlod Penwhistle,
Well stated and I agree with your opinion.
Rufus @ 11:41pm: There comes a time in the aging process when that “trust in feet” will become misplaced. Along with the ability to stand and defend one’s self unarmed. That is also the time in the process that you become more viable as a victim. Predators seek out victims for these reasons. Handling a weapon is a teachable skill,
The “only property crime” defense: consider the car theft. Many victims are people who need their car for work and are not financially able to use Uber or public transportation. Ex. construction laborer whose home and job site are not served by pub-trans. The theft creates a financial crisis for that family.
21-sec: Try searching for “Tuller (or Tueller) Drill”. TV and movies orchestrate their content to achieve a preconceived result…. not good for actual knowledge.
The problem is *perception* time. How far must an event or action progress before you realize, perceive, it as a threat? Therein lies the rub….
Back in the early 1990s, we had just moved into a new house like that week. I went out shopping, and when I came back saw a light in the basement. I was about halfway down the stairs to turn it off when a black man came out of the room that was to be used as an office, and said “Come here.” I have always vividly remembered it, because, frankly, my first impulse was to comply. It was a rental, the man was middle-aged, and I supposed it possible that he was some sort of handyman for the landlord. What astounded me was that there was no “fight or flight” impulse but a sense of expanded time where I calculated my odds. I had half a flight of stairs advantage, and reckoned a chance of escape was worth it.
I ran into the street, saw a woman neighbor who took me into her house to call the police (no cell phone then). They came in, guns drawn, although the man had gone. He had robbed the house (he temporarily stored everything in the garbage bins in the alley, so we got it all back). When I came back to the house to meet the police, I found my cat (who apparently ran out the door as I ran) walking down the middle of the street crying plaintively to find me. That fear pheromone thing must be real.
Despite in the end losing nothing a unexpected light in the basement always caused cold fear in me thereafter.
And, oh, when the 911 dispatcher asked for a description of the man, I was unable to say “black” until she (herself obviously black) more or less ordered me to tell her. I even feel a little uneasy retailing this anecdote.
@Another Mike
“Ex. construction laborer whose home and job site are not served by pub-trans. The theft creates a financial crisis for that family.”
I always ask, what if the worker’s *tools* are in the truck? Still just property, right? No potential at all for a bad outcome for the victim.
That academic who claimed ‘insurance covers it’ can’t go to Hades quickly enough.
@huxley – loved that scene, but it doesn’t real “prove” the 21 foot rule.
zenman:
I didn’t say it proved the rule. I didn’t think it did. It was just a fun scene and the first time I heard of the “21 foot rule.
Nancy B:
I’m glad you were able to get out.
A problem with the 21 foot rule is that the attacker won’t show the knife when he’s 21 feet away. He’ll show it when he’s at bad breath distance and closing. Trust your instincts: when you get a bad vibe from someone, move and prepare to respond as needed.
Another Mike on January 25, 2022 at 10:22 am
“… aging process … ability to stand and defend one’s self unarmed.”
And you don’t have to be all that far down the aging process to get arthritis in your fingers such that the trigger finder no longer can be bent enough to pull the trigger [but I can still type 🙂 ].
Wife and I took a 2 hr. gun awareness class, followed by a trip to a range. Ended up firing 10 rounds from a Glock at a target 25 ft. away with my left hand. Did ok but clearly a far cry from protecting myself during a crime situation.
R2L: Not to make this a mini-self defense course… In the words of Paul Hornig: “Practice, practice, practice..” Yes, all who carry should work on “weak-hand” shooting, and single-handed reloading, either semi-auto or revolver. It might make a difference some day. Hopefully, though, a never-needed skill.