What Would You Do?

What's Up Sheepdogs? Ryan here with Tampa Carry.

All across the country, protests and riots have been occurring for months. Now, these mostly peaceful protesters have decided that they're not getting enough attention by rioting, burning down buildings, looting businesses, and beating and killing innocent people. Now they’ve decided to attack innocent people inside of restaurants. 

On August 24, a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest began in downtown DC. As the protest continued, it quickly escalated into violence. 

Dozens of protesters surrounded a woman who was eating outside of a local restaurant and screamed, “No Justice, No Peace” in an attempt to force the woman to raise her fist in support for the movement. The woman refused to be intimidated, which set the crowd into a temper tantrum. I'm sorry, but we live in America where we have the freedom to choose which organizations we want to support, and which ones we don’t want to support. Trying to scream at me and force me to raise my fist? That is pure evil. 

What can this woman do according to Florida Concealed Carry Laws? Let’s ask ourselves the big questions. 

The Big Questions

How Could This Situation Have Been Avoided? 

I think the only way to avoid a situation like this would be to know where the protests were occurring and avoid that area. If I was eating dinner outside and I noticed a group of protesters approaching, I would get up and leave. 

Does This Scenario Fall Under the Justified Use of Force Statute? 

Florida Statutes 776.012 (2) A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.

Do you have a reasonable belief of imminent death? Even though this would be an extremely scary situation, I think it would be hard to convince a jury that you were going to die within seconds.

Do you have a responsible belief of great bodily harm? Maybe. I think it would depend on what the rioters where saying. 

Do you have a reasonable belief of the imminent commission of a forcible felony? Based on the video, I think it is very hard to tell. 

Is the use of deadly force necessary? Not yet. 

Are you in a place where you have a right to be? Yes. 

Are you engaged in criminal activity? No.

At the moment, it appears the rioters are simply screaming and yelling. They weren’t attempting to hurt or kill anyone. However, my opinion on this could easily change based on what the mob was saying. For example, were they threatening violence? 

Where Is the Line in the Sand? 

My personal line in the sand would be if one of the rioters presented a weapon or attempted to hurt my family. Recently, similar protestors approached one of my students who was eating at a restaurant in St. Petersburg, FL. As my student was eating, a group of protesters approached his table. One of the protestors grabbed my student’s beer off the table and drank it while making intense eye contact. Another protestor picked up a plate of food and began eating off of it. 

I asked my student how he responded. “Ryan, there were 10 or more people surrounding our table. Many of them were holding skateboards and bottles. They wanted me to try something so that they could beat us.” 

I think my student did the right thing by staying calm in this situation. 

What Would You Do? 

Would you attempt to get away from the rioters or would you stand your ground? Would you fight or would you comply with their demands by raising your fist? What would you do? 

That's all I have for today. So until next time keep training and stay safe...

Ryan G. Thomas

P.S. You’re one step away from getting your Florida concealed carry permit….FAST & EASY…

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