Bag's Rants

Catch 22 and the advantage of hindsight.

Reading this article about, more, riots in France. A copper pulled a gun and shot two rioters, killing one and seriously injuring another. The Paris prosecutor has to decide if he will face charges and by leanings in the article he probably won't.

It sounds like he saved this guys life at the expense of one, and a half, of the bad guys. I'll shed no tears. If he hadn't done this then the innocent victim would likely be dead and he would be getting asked why he didn't do more to protect him, if he was still alive himself. From the outline he sounds like a copper to have around. Putting himself as protector against a mob like this shows a bravery that needs to be rewarded.

I've had several discussions with people on the morality and legality of this sort of issue. The French thing is a bit more straightforward but others give people pause. I like putting situations to them and getting there responses which are always different with the benefit of knowing the end result.

Remember Rodney King from the LA riots back in the early 90s. Guy in a truck stops because rioters step in front of him and get the crap kicked out of him. Now all the jokes and questions were all from people who were asking. Why did he stop? Why didn't he just keep going? Now if he did he would probably still be on death row awaiting his execution instead of being the fastest truck driver in the world. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

posted by Bag @ 9:52 am