First things first: Kenneth Lilly, the security guard alleged to have shot the bus driver on 35W the other day, has been charged with attempted murder, among other things.
And it’s seem, from watching the video, to be a fair cop. To use a gun in self-defense – we’ve been through this before – you need to satisfy four criteria in the state of Minnesota:
- You can’t be the aggressor.
- You must reasonably fear immediate death or great bodily harm.
- You must only use the force necessary to end the threat.
- You must make a reasonable effort to retreat.
You need to satisfy all four of those criteria (unless you’re in your house, in which case only “only” need to check off the first three.
This will be for a jury (or, more likely than not, the defendant, his lawyer and the judge) to decide – but it looks like Lilly blew 1, 2 and 4 completely.
Of course, those who get their “information” from local gun-grab scolds “Protect” Minnesota will get a version of events that would make Baghdad Bob wince with Schadenfreud.
Where to start with this – words fail me – horsecrap?
“I’m afraid I might get killed, now” is a part of every legitimate self-defense claim. No exceptions! It has nothing to do with “Stand your Ground”, which – thanks for nothing, Governor Goofy – is not the law in Minnesota anyway.
But the law doesn’t require that you “feel afraid”. The law requires that you “reasonably” fear death or great bodily harm – and by “reasonable”, we mean “an investigator, prosecutor, judge or jury believes it”.
Invoking “stand your ground” means either the writer – almost certainly the invincibly ignorant Reverend Nord Bence – doesn’t know what she’s talking about, or she doesn’t really think it matters if her audience doesn’t get the truth or, and this is my bet, both.
It’s almost a Berg’s Law.
