Making decisions based on fear alone is what’s causing deaths like the one on the train. If fear hadn’t griped him he would have recognized that once the dude stopped moving he could let go.
And before anyone comes at me here, I have done almost the same thing to a guy outside a bar. He was drunk as a skunk, had been beat up and was bleeding from a head wound, and wasn’t thinking clearly. I held him in a close-to a choke hold but was still worried if I let him go he’d turn around and clock me. But I still let him go after a few minutes. He did punch me (not in the face), then left it at that.
Too many are running on fear these days, including cops, and we don’t need it. It’s useless. If I, as a woman, can understand that and still do the ‘right’ thing, why can’t I expect a dude to do the same?
It’s cool that you are you with the info you have in your head. Not everyone is you and no one deserves prison time for protecting their fellow humans.
I cannot be swayed in that view. I grew up surrounded by idiots and endured daily violence and more than one person I knew growing up is in prison for actual murder and more than one friend is currently in a grave because no one stepped up.
If you’d like, private message me and I’ll share article after article with you. I’m sure I can find them in archives at least.
I’m sorry for the hardship you’ve faced and the friends you have lost to jail or death.
I don’t mean to be rude but I’m over 65 and have friends and family members that have been both on the giving and receiving end of violence, as I have been myself.
I am not unaware that my experiences may be different than others, but I also have a right to expect that people should be using their brains more than their emotions when in tough or crisis situations … if for no other reason than emotions can change on a whim vs a well-thought-through action based on facts and knowledge.