For all of life’s biggest and heaviest decisions — changing careers, moving out of state, choosing a college to attend, proposing to a spouse, and so on — it’s wise to take a moment to consider your options. Some of us make lists of pros and cons, ask friends or mentors for insight, or “sleep on it” before committing to a choice. But no matter what, we avoid making split-second decisions about any situation that’s likely to change our lives for years or decades. There is, however, one instance where this level of deliberation will not be possible: deciding to pull the trigger in a self-defense situation. When you’re thrust into one of these life-threatening situations, there’s usually no time to pause and ponder what to do. You’ll need to react immediately and decisively, knowing exactly how much is on the line. If you hesitate to use deadly force when you need to, you or your loved ones may be permanently disfigured or killed. But if you pull the trigger without adequate legal justification, you may be convicted of murder and spend the rest of your life behind bars.
In recent years, there have been many instances of riots, protests, or civil unrest which led to defensive shootings. Most of us know of the August 2020 events in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Kyle Ritten-house shot three men who pursued and assaulted him. Rittenhouse was charged with multiple counts of homicide and attempted homicide, and while he was eventually found not guilty on all counts, the aftermath and media circus undoubtedly changed his life forever. On the other hand, take a look at the July 2020 case of 30-year-old U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry, who was working as an Uber driver while BLM protests spread through the streets of Austin, Texas. When he attempted to drive through an intersection blocked by protesters, a 28-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran named Garrett Foster approached the driver’s side of his vehicle while opencarrying an AK-pattern rifle. Perry drew his firearm and shot Foster, killing him; he argued that this was an act of self-defense, but prosecutors claimed he “intentionally drove into the protestors.”
If you and your family found yourselves in the middle of a group of hostile rioters, how would you decide the best course of action? It’s easy to say you’d go directly to using deadly force, but would you be fully prepared to deal with an enraged crowd, speak to law enforcement officers and lawyers, and justify your actions in front of a jury? If an opportunity for non-violent escape or de-escalation appeared, how would you capitalize on it? How might you avoid getting cornered and confronted in the first place?
The Scenario
SITUATION TYPE
Confronted by rioters
YOUR CREW
Yourself, your wife, and your newborn son
LOCATION
Baltimore, Maryland
SEASON
Spring
WEATHER
Cloudy evening; high 65 degrees F, low 47 degrees F
The Setup
It’s a happy occasion, but also a stressful one — your wife just gave birth to your first-born son at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore. In the third trimester
