Let’s talk the honest truth about race, self-defense and modern day prosecutors. If you, as a white man, shoot and/or kill a black person or persons, you’re not going to get any benefit of the doubt from prosecutors. In fact, in deeper blue counties (cough, COOK, for instance – one of several), you can expect a vexatious prosecution bordering on persecution as the prosecutor seeks to win votes a core constituency.
Need an example? Trayvon Martin ring a bell? How about Kyle Rittenhouse? What about James Love – someone you probably haven’t heard about unless you live in far west Central Illinois? The list goes on and on. “Are ya pickin’ up what I’m puttin’ down?” like the young people today sometimes ask.
Two important lessons you should take away.
- The gun is truly the last resort. Unless box wine swilling Suzy Soccermom and LaToya the surly government employee can plainly see that you as the gun owner were about to die (not get a beatdown, but die), you better avail yourself to other tactics and techniques to avoid the confrontation or de-escalate one if you’re already in it.
- If you don’t have some sort of legal insurance/coverage for the aftermath of a defensive use of force, you’re an imprudent fool. That’s not said to be insulting, or a personal attack. It’s just a fact of life. If you’re one of those gun owners who have no coverage and are forced to use deadly force, you need not come to us asking for help. If you’re a GSL member and we see your case as likely a righteous use of force, we’ll write your attorney a check for $500. If you’re using Dave McDermott’s law firm in Homewood who hasn’t lost a self-defense case nationwide yet, that won’t even buy a billable hour from him. If you’re not a GSL member? Well, your letter asking for assistance will be added to household trash and sent to the landfill before the next board meeting.[Elaborating on this after proof-reading… This case would likely be $100,000 for McDermott’s firm to represent you if you are the bike guy. $40-50k up front and about 50k for the trial. Or you could have Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network ($150ish for first year, less for subsequent years – mention John Boch or Guns Save Life when you call and they’ll knock $25 off AND treat you like family) or USCCA (15% discount for GSL members if you sign up through group sales). Either would pay the tab for Mr. McDermott if you legitimately used force in self-defense. (No, we’re not getting kickbacks or commissions – instead we’ve negotiated these discounts for our friends and family. One group I know here in Illinois
pimpspromotes USCCA aggressively… you wonder why? 40% commissions on referrals, that’s why.) I also strongly recommend US Law Shield, but they have their own attorney Michael Johnson who is really good. But honestly, he’s not Dave McDermott with a perfect record in self-defense cases. There’s a reason people with resources hire McDermott and his firm to represent them in self-defense cases across the nation…]
Our latest poster child for potentially race-based prosecutions happened just a few days ago in… where else… Murder City USA. CWB Chicago has more:
Murder charges were filed Saturday evening against a Lakeview man in connection with this week’s double shooting near the Douglass Park swimming pool. Announcement of the charges came minutes after CWBChicago published surveillance video of the shooting late Saturday afternoon.
Charles Leto, 55, will appear for a detention hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Sunday afternoon. He is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery by discharging a firearm, and aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle. Leto has been identified as either a lifeguard or a supervisor at the pool.
Chicago police and fire department personnel responded to the park at 1401 South Sacramento at 7:03 p.m. Thursday after 911 callers reported shots fired near the park’s basketball courts and pool.
Marjay Dotson, 15, died from a gunshot wound to his back, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. A 14-year-old boy, identified to the media by family members as Jeremy Herred, has undergone surgery for a gunshot wound to his neck.
Here’s the video which was finally leaked (as opposed to released by police or prosecutors formally). Despite repeated efforts, I was unable to embed the X post here. It’s worth watching. Here’s my take:
Mr. Green Shirt surely was reaching into his backpack as he locked in on the bike guy several steps away. It only seemed to increase in urgency in the last couple of steps before he got to Mr. “Distracted fixing his bike”. If I had to guess he was reaching for his magic talisman that motivates people to give up their stuff. AKA a gun. And he was trying to move the gun around so he could grip it with his right hand to use it and that’s why he hastened his digging around in the bag.
Just after this screen capture he made a hard right turn to get behind the guy working on his bike. There’s no legitimate reason I can think of for him to do that aside from pulling an armed robbery. And frankly, given how smoothly he operated, it wouldn’t surprise me if he had done a few of these already.
The guy on the right side of the above screen grab joins in with Mr. Green Shirt as green shirt gets behind the bike guy who has his head on a swivel. Bike guy’s intuition is telling him something’s not right.
Meanwhile, teen #2 hasn’t entered the frame yet, but he comes along and it sure looks like he might be carrying a black handgun along his leg.
The bike guy accesses his gun, retreats abruptly, gets into a nice isosceles shooting position while moving and gets to work on what he likely believes are armed robbers.
I sure would be curious of Guy #2 was left handed or if the cops found a gun. (If the cops didn’t find a gun, that’s doesn’t mean a whole lot. Someone might have gotten a souvenir. Need to see more video… and by the way, why is a government facility in Chicago using 1970s vintage cameras? This “stuff” should be HD quality in today’s world.)
The girl with the white bag? Not sure she’s part of this at all other than being the wrong place at the wrong moment.
Of course, the family of the young scholars who approached the bike guy are claiming this is racism. Because white folks with carry licenses just pull their guns and shoot down black teenagers for sport or something.
Revisit the two lessons above. Make sure you check both of those boxes before you walk out of the house with your safety rescue tool.