Pro-Israel Protester Shoots Pro-Hamas Protester. Was It Self-Defense?

Posted • September 13, 2024: We are about to show you video of the moment that a man is shot. It is not a gory video and in fact, this author has slowed the video down to half time and can’t actually see the shot being fired, but if the mere fact of seeing a person get shot upsets you, you might not want to look. And as of this writing, the person who was shot appears to be alive, although he has been significantly harmed. Still, on Thursday there was a small group of people demonstrating in favor of Israel when a pro-Hamass individual decided to argue with them. Then, for some reason, the pro-Hamass man decided to run across a busy street and tackle a man later identified as Scott Hayes—wearing a blue shirt. There was a scuffle involving multiple people and, in the process, Hayes allegedly shot him. We say ‘allegedly’ because for all we know, Hayes might later claim the gun went off by accident, perhaps in a struggle.

🚨 A man wearing a Palestinian pin was shot in the stomach this evening after he charged through traffic and tackled a pro-Israel Iraq war veteran in Newton, Massachusetts. Now, let’s put some law into this. Let’s assume for the sake of argument that Hayes deliberately fired the gun. That might not be true, but let’s play pretend. First, Massachusetts appears to be a duty-to-retreat state, where if you are in public, before you are allowed to use lethal force, you have a duty to retreat if you reasonably can. And, bluntly, intentionally shooting another person with a regular gun is always going to be considered lethal force, even if the person who was shot doesn't die.

But one point people often miss is that the duty to retreat only applies in the second before you use lethal force. So, it doesn’t typically apply when two people are arguing or even when the only fear is of non-lethal force—lethal force being force that can cause either death or great bodily harm. So basically, Hayes’ duty to retreat doesn’t appear to be triggered until just before he actually fired—again assuming it was intentional. But the duty to retreat is not absolute. It only applies if you can reasonably do so in safety and at the moment the shot was fired, Hayes was physically incapable of getting away. So, the duty to retreat appears to have no bearing on this—and for the same reason, we didn’t think it applied in the Trayvon Martin case, either.

We are still hedging our bets to a degree because if you watch closely, there is a cut between the argument and the moment the person who was shot started to cross the street. So, for instance, if he had threatened Hayes before crossing, then obviously Hayes could have left. (…)

• More at: Twitchy - Pro-Israel Protester Shoots Pro-Hamass Protester. Was It Self-Defense?
https://twitchy.com/aaronwalker/2024/09/13/watch-pro-israel-protester-shoots-pro-hamass-protester-n2400905
Daily Wire: Man With Pro-Palestinian Pin Shot After Tackling Pro-Israel Veteran
https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-man-with-pro-palestinian-pin-shot-after-tackling-pro-israel-veteran
Rumble: DA Says Scott Hayes Will Be Charged For Shooting Pro-Palestinian Man Who Tackled Him During Protest
https://rumble.com/v5etxlp-da-says-scott-hayes-will-be-charged-for-shooting-pro-palestinian-man-who-ta.html