in Monday's episode of Human Events Daily, host Jack Posobiec discussed previous cases where people were criticized for defending themselves against criminals, or those they believed had threatened their life. He questioned why it appeared that there was a concerted effort on the part of the Left to condemn those who defended themselves in violent situations.
The first person that Posobiec mentioned stretches back to the 1980s. Bernhard Goetz was charged with “four counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault, reckless endangerment, third-degree possession of a weapon, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.”
Posobiec mentioned that leading up to the event, Goetz had been mugged a couple times, and consequently purchased a firearm to protect himself. When Goetz was approached by four individuals who attempted to mug him, he reportedly shot all four of them, though none of them died. Because it was self-defense, Goetz was found innocent of all charges except possession of a weapon, which was deemed illegal.
The podcast host mentioned that the Goetz incident was in pre-Giuliani New York. Rudy Giuliani was responsible for putting into practice what is known as the Broken Windows Theory. Posobiec went on to say that the theory “set the standard for what New York turned into in the later 90s throughout the 2000s, as just being this incredible hub,” where business thrived and Times Square was “almost like an amusement park.” However, over the past four or five years, New York has descended into crime and chaos.
Posobiec also went on to mention the case of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, which took place during the Obama administration. Zimmerman, who was reportedly looking out for a potential burglar in the area, a kind of “neighborhood watch” situation, was attacked by Martin. Though charges were brought against Zimmerman in the case, he was ultimately acquitted.
It was only after the Zimmerman case that Black Lives Matter (BLM) came onto the scene, which was followed up by the Michael Brown and Darren Wilson case in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. Brown was shot and killed by police officer Wilson after it was reported that Brown had attacked Wilson in his vehicle, and attempted to gain control of the officer’s service pistol. It was only a short time before this event that Brown had reportedly robbed a convenience store.
BLM continued its crusade against what they perceived as unlawful and unjust killings, which came to a head in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This event ultimately led to the Floyd riots across the country, where dozens of people were killed and businesses destroyed. During one of these riots, Kyle Rittenhouse defended himself by shooting someone who had attempted to attack him.
The podcast host continued by mentioning a case that is still ongoing, which is the case of Andrew Lester and Ralph Yarl that took place in Kansas City, Missouri just a few weeks ago. Lester, who is an elderly man, was awoken in the dead of night to knocking at his door. Posobiec mentioned that Lester thought he saw a “large man” at his door, who was attempting to break in. However, the case was reportedly one of a mistaken address, as Yarl was attempting to open the door into the house, where he believed his two brothers were located. Posobiec said, “So again a case that is still currently on the books and currently working its way through the legal process in Missouri.”
Posobiec went on, saying that when someone is killed, there should certainly be a public inquiry, adding that there, of course, “needs to be an investigation.” However, he goes on to say that some of these cases included verifiable video evidence of the incident, such as the Rittenhouse case and the newest case of Marine Daniel Penny, which should never have been brought to trial because the video evidence makes it clear what happened.
Posobiec concluded: “Every single one of these cases, we can see someone was using self-defense, and we may not like it. But unfortunately folks, we live in a real world. What are the biggest differences between conservatives and progressives is the belief in human nature.”
“Why is a progressive called a progressive? Because they believe that human nature can be evolved, that it can progress beyond its current state, that people can evolve beyond human nature, that human nature can be perfected and uplifted into a new evolved, enlightened standard. If that's not the case, open a history book. Humans have always been this way. When you read the Bible, you can see thousands and thousands of years ago, going all the way back to Cain and Abel: Humans always have a propensity for violence.”
