Gun Death: Numbers

Many people may not know, but it can be considered a deadly force scenario if you are threatened by a large number of unarmed attackers.

Friends and family of Ali Ahmed Mohammed, who was beaten to death last week by a gang of five men here, will gather for a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening.

According to the city’s Police Chief Cathy Lanier, the 27-year-old Ethiopian immigrant was denied entry to the DC9 nightclub around 2:30 a.m. on Friday October 15, but he returned to throw a brick through the window. What followed next was described by Lanier as extralegal punishment against the victim.

Five men chased Mohammed— including the club’s owner Bill Spieler and employees Darryl Carter, Reginald Phillips, Evan Preller, and Arthur Zaloga – then tackled and beat him, police said. When officers arrived, all five men were still on the scene and Mohammed was in critical condition, Lanier said. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

Throwing a brick is a dick move. Is it worth getting beaten to death? Nope. Is getting beaten to death better than being shot? Nope. Is “Gun Death” a bullshit metric? Yep!

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0 Responses to Gun Death: Numbers

  1. Jake says:

    It’s also worth noting that it seems like many, if not most, gay-bashings that turn deadly involve multiple unarmed assailants. And it’s also not uncommon for a gay-bashing where there was no intent to kill to turn deadly, especially when multiple assailants are involved.

    Being beaten even 2 or 3 people without any weapons at all can kill you just as dead as being shot. But at least people like Joanne Peterson can rest easy knowing that it’s not a “gun death.”

    • Weerd Beard says:

      Most of the “Hate Crimes” are often malicious mobs, often with rudimentary weapons. Blacks, Jews, Gays, whatever

      • Jake says:

        True. I tend to use gays as an example both because it’s the most contemporary example (you just don’t hear much any more about blacks or Jews being beaten to death just for being black or gay – I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but it’s unusual and you really don’t hear about it much anymore), and because it applies personally so it’s more often the first thing that comes to mind.

        • Weerd Beard says:

          yeah gay-bashing seems to be the in-vogue hate-crime of the day. That in no way states that any other form of hate-crime are going up or down, just that they don’t get as much media attention.

  2. Reputo says:

    I don’t think this is a good example. If the man did use deadly force against his attackers, I doubt that the law would look at that as self-defense. The point being, he started the fight and went looking for trouble by throwing the brick through the window. (that of course doesn’t justify his being beaten to death).

    As it stands with the facts, I would charge the attackers with 2nd degree murder (manslaughter as a minimum). If the man had have used deadly force against his attackers he probably still would have been charged with manslaughter

    Self defense does not mean that you can purposely put yourself into a situation where deadly force is needed.

    • Jake says:

      The point being, he started the fight and went looking for trouble by throwing the brick through the window. […]

      Self defense does not mean that you can purposely put yourself into a situation where deadly force is needed.

      True, but in many states (and under common-law), if your actions start a fight but you clearly try to “disengage” (like running away) then it is still self-defense. This would appear to be one of those cases, if he had used deadly force against his attackers.

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