man beats toddler to death, witnesses fail to stop him

[sgtmac_46]

I'm with you here. It's not cut and dry unless you were there. If the cops killed him it seems obvious he was armed or presented a very significant threat to the police (not to mention the "cowardly" civilians). Is it cowardly to save your skin at the expense of others, even a child? Perhaps. You all know what an adrenaline dump is. I'm confident any witnesses are scarred for life and are well aware of their own guilty feelings for not doing (or feeling able to do) more. Many of us have seen someone in a blind rage, right? Even if they'd done something, what if the child was already dead? Would they be criticised for not doing something fast enough? If you intervened and killed the guy, it's not likely you'll go to jail but stranger things have happened, not to mention a lack of awareness of possible consequences not likely to occur to them when in a state of shock. I'm not defending anyone but remeber that people are human. We're not all heros. Those people may have had families of their own. FEAR CAN BE A POWERFUL THING.

Yes....Cowardace is a powerful thing.

 

[Ahriman]

I don't know, maybe everyone should have a loved one suffering from epilepsia, even if the sickness only lasts for a year or so. My girlfriend's seizures taught me the huge difference between fear and cowardice. I'm usually in fear then as every seizure can be fatal (not the seizure itself but during one she can't breath for most of the time and earlier her seizures lasted for 10-25 minutes - yes, she's hard), yet this fear never stopped me from doing the things necessary.
So I'm echoing sgtmac_46's viewpoint: fear is not powerful, cowardice is.

 

[sgtmac_46]

We all know why these folks failed to act. We all know what fear is. But, though cowardice is understandable.....it should NEVER be acceptable! And every man must guard against it in his own life.

A moment like this one happens once or twice in the average person's life.....it's a test many folks obviously don't pass.

 

[Mike Hamer]

This is horrible.....hearing about things like this kind of makes me depressed to know that I live in such a messed up world.....my thoughts and prayers go out to the little boys family.....that is if it wasnt his "family" that did this to him

 

[BLACK LION]

need more ccw license holders out there....

too bad the cops shot him.... it saved him a broomstick up the rectum in prison... our tax payer dollars would have only paid for his ride up there and his welcome kit.... he would have been dead as soon as he met his cell mate.... the police did him a favor...not us....

this is our societies fault..... we always just stand and watch... like mooooo mooooo....baaaah baaaaaah.... so many advocates against violence but have thier bowl o popcorn out to watch "most shocking" or scariest police chases.... we are a nation of watchers.... how many planes missed thier mark during 911 = 1 ... the hundreds of others were all scared of blood gushing from a razor cut.... but it happens all the time.... in turn thousands died and a nation was at its knees.... why... because they were all watching.... engaged and frozen from gore... because or media trained them to be.....

we have grown docile and dormant by being reactive or defensive..... the old america must return or we will implode and terror will accelerate it

 

[Darth F.Takeda]

Have you ever been in a situation even loosely comparable?

It's easy to criticise with 20/20 hindsight. It's easy from the safety of the keyboard to say what you "would have done!" It ain't so easy in the real world.

It seems people made some effort to intervene, though it was unsuccessful. Having been one of 4 strong cops trying to drag a cuffed individual out of house, and it taking all 4 of us to do so -- I know that it's not always so simple to take someone down. I don't know what's been found in the suspect's bloods. The accounts I read strongly suggest that there probably was a nice cocktail of drugs -- or he was just plain off his rocker. Either is sufficient to make a person much harder to control.

I applaud the folks for trying -- even if all they did was yell at him or call 911.

Well seeing as we are discouraged and penilized in this society for aggressive action, it could be none of these people could stop this guy.

If we were not such a wussyfied society, then half those people would have known to put some sharp steel into his kidney's and up his rectum and he would be done for. Seems to me if he shrugged off the attempts to help and was focusing on what he was doing, then it would make killing him rather easy, he would nmot see the blade coming.

It's stuff like this that shows why the Nanny state needs to be killed for all time and men should be required to act like men, not a ***** with an extra appendage.

 

[teekin]

I can see that the bystanders were likely frightened of being harmed themselves. BUT.. they did not have to engage the man in a physical altercation, all they had to do was Distract him from the boy long enough to shove the child into a vehicle, Lock the Damn Doors, and drive like hell to the nearest ER. Distraction can be talking to, pinning his arms, knocking him to the ground, tire iron to the base of the skull, tap with a Buick sedan, throw rocks at his head. Whatever it takes to have him take his attention off the child. And it is easier said than done, but not doing nothing is not an option for me. Camus' said "silence implies consent", I Do Not Consent!
Lori M

 

[theletch1]

Moderator Note

ATTENTION ALL USERS:

Please, keep the conversation to a kid-safe level. The general martial arts talk forum is open to all members of the board. We have quite a few members who are younger than 18 years old. While the anger at the situation is truly understandable many of the suggested "punishments" for the animal in question have crossed the PG13 level. I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

-Jeff Letchford
-MT super moderator-

 

[BLACK LION]

sorry

 

[MA-Caver]

Moderator Note

ATTENTION ALL USERS:

Please, keep the conversation to a kid-safe level. The general martial arts talk forum is open to all members of the board. We have quite a few members who are younger than 18 years old. While the anger at the situation is truly understandable many of the suggested "punishments" for the animal in question have crossed the PG13 level. I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

-Jeff Letchford
-MT super moderator-

Indeed, suggesting punishment is rather moot at this point since he got the ultimate punishment by an officer shooting him to death. He was probably too nuts to remain among society (even prison) anyway.
As far as the eyewitnesses to the horrendous act, I would think that they're punishing themselves enough out of guilt for NOT stepping in. Hindsight is the greatest prophet of all.

 

[Shotgun Buddha]

I feel sorry for the elderly couple. It would take an awful lot of bravery for elderly folk to try and intervene with someone in that type of violence, and knowing it didnt make a difference would scar deep. I have nothing but respect for them for trying though.