Convenience store assault.

[RoyGBiv]

nobody saw nothin', except for ....

.... the video cameras.

I'm with you on leaving before it comes to blows. There's no reason here to fight. My man parts are plenty big, I don't need to prove it to anyone.

Dude in yellow was giving back as good as he was getting, except that he wasn't prepared for the physical contact when it came. His retorts did nothing to dissuade physical contact, they served only to antagonize. If you have a stand your ground mindset, your better bet is to say nothing, or convey to Black Shirt that he'll be needing an ambulance if he continues on his tirade. Then be prepared to follow up should Black Shirt get physical. Double fail.

If I'm in Yellow shirts position, I'd have either shut up, made space and waited to see if the situation resolved itself or shut up and left the building. If I'm with family, I'd definitely have shut up and left, and been prepared to immediately defend if I'm followed.

[bdcheung]

ETA - We've had some discussion on key indicators in the past and MUC (Managing Unknown Contacts). Anybody notice the perp look away right before he sucker punched the guy?

Target glancing and weight shift are two big indicators I noticed about "Black T-Shirt". Though I didn't see any grooming, and I couldn't pick out a discernible "furtive movement of the hand toward the waist"

[Ed L]

Dude in yellow was giving back as good as he was getting, except that he wasn't prepared for the physical contact when it came.

I don't agree at all. The victim was trying to disengage or calm the situation, albeit with a bad choice of words and actions. Had he been 'giving back as good as he was getting' he would have been threatening the aggressor or name calling or otherwise keeping the ball rolling or escallating.

It was a very bizarre situation in that first he aggressor told the guy in yellow to back up 6" or something to that effect. Immediately after that the aggressor began focusing on having the victim shut the F#*& up, andf any further attempts by the victim to desescalate, albeit not very well, only angered the aggressor further. It was a very unusual situation that can be easily be analyzed on video from the comfort of your house but not so much in real time if you are on the receiving end of those threats and have no knowledge or experience with violence, it's precursors, and how it escalates.

[RoyGBiv]

I don't agree at all. The victim was trying to disengage or calm the situation, albeit with a bad choice of words and actions. Had he been 'giving back as good as he was getting' he would have been threatening the aggressor or name calling or otherwise keeping the ball rolling or escallating.

It was a very bizarre situation in that first he aggressor told the guy in yellow to back up 6" or something to that effect. Immediately after that the aggressor began focusing on having the victim shut the F#*& up, andf any further attempts by the victim to desescalate, albeit not very well, only angered the aggressor further. It was a very unusual situation that can be easily be analyzed on video from the comfort of your house but not so much in real time if you are on the receiving end of those threats and have no knowledge or experience with violence, it's precursors, and how it escalates.

I'll assume you're speaking generally here [underlined] since you know nothing about me personally..

As for the giving/getting analogy, it's easy to mistakenly accuse Yellow man of being passive just because he wasn't as animated as Black Shirt. But, Yellow man was running his mouth pretty good too. He was whining more than in-your-face hostile, but, he was actively participating in ratcheting up Black Shirts attitude. Perhaps that was not his intention, but, that was the result.

[TCinVA]

.... the video cameras.

Video cameras frequently aren't working properly when you need them to. Unfortunately.

[jmjames]

Video cameras frequently aren't working properly when you need them to. Unfortunately.

They also often do not capture audio, or have so little detail that you can't see important details like facial expressions. And there's plenty of cases where the cameras don't cover the full scene. Etc. How often have you watched security camera footage on the news and scratched your head in confusion?

J.Ja

[Ed L]

I'll assume you're speaking generally here [underlined] since you know nothing about me personally.

I wasn't I referring to you when I wrote "have no knowledge or experience with violence, it's precursors, and how it escalates.". I was referring specifically to the person in the yellow shirt in the video who got the beating since judging by the video he had "no knowledge or experience with violence, it's precursors, and how it escalates."

As for the giving/getting analogy, it's easy to mistakenly accuse Yellow man of being passive just because he wasn't as animated as Black Shirt. But, Yellow man was running his mouth pretty good too. He was whining more than in-your-face hostile, but, he was actively participating in ratcheting up Black Shirts attitude. Perhaps that was not his intention, but, that was the result.

The guy in the yellow shirt was dealing with an irrational, unpredictible, spontaneously violent individual in a highly unusual situation--one that he had clearly never experienced or imagined or even realized he was in until it was too late. The victim became increasingly rattled by it.

The smart thing to do would have been to put down whatever he was buying and leave or safely back up a distance. But once the aggressor keyed on him there was no guarantee that the aggressor might not have followed him. I've veiwed the video several times and have yet to find anything the guy in yellow said that would remotley cause any near-normal person to react the way the aggressor did. I don't see this as a two-way confrontation.

[barstoolguru]

the right thing to do is not be a wuss and fight back. the guy wouldn't have made a play of the man had some backbone

[JDM]

Actually, the right thing to do is leave when you realize there is a GD psycho in line with you.

If you do not have the ability to realize that then perhaps you need more training.

[barstoolguru]

you get "punked" like that and it will eat you alive. in your mind you will get beat over and over and wonder why you didn't fight back. I have been in enough fights to know if you don't stand your ground a guy like that will do just what he did "Punk you"

A hero dies one death but a coward a thousand