With the exception of the passenger having her window a bit down, this is the way you address an idiot having a ‘roid fit about whatever sin you may have committed against him on the road.
I assume the police was called as you can hear them arriving at the end of the video. Make a note that assuming the call was made right before the video, it took almost three minutes for the cops to show up … and that is great response time.
The driver remained calm, cool and collected. Did not let his Ego get in the way or answer the insults. Specially cool was ignoring the damage to the vehicle that although it is exasperating to see your property being damaged, it cannot be that much of damage and it can always be fixed out of Idiot’s pocket.
I don’t know if the driver was armed. I hope he was. By this time, worrying about having a gun is too late. In fact and assuming he was not blocked behind, if Junior Mongo were to breach the inside, the best defense would have been thrown the vehicle in reserve and leave to a more secure location while on the phone with 911 explaining why you need to move. In fact, I think a good strategy would be to call 911 from the get go and keep them on the line till officers arrived as the 911 calls are recorded and they are the first official record (and therefore evidence) of an event. I don’t wanna break your cupcake & ponies view of the world, but bad people lie and unless you have proof otherwise, it will be your word against them.
So, don’t get out of the car, don’t take the bait, remain calm, wait for the police to arrive or Idiot to leave, expect a possible escalation in aggression and act accordingly. In this particular case, there was no escalation so no other actions were needed. Maybe if it happens to you, you may need to run away or even draw your firearm: Every encounter will be different, so try to prepare for as many variations as you can think and assume you will face one you did not think about.
Update: The driver speaks. Thanks to Shawn for the additional Info.
More info: http://www.10news.com/news/camp-pendleton-road-rage-victim-tells-his-side-of-the-story
The Marine Corp I was in (70’s) one phone call and he’d be in front of the Bn. Commander. He’d be lucky to leave with any rank at all other than Pvt. We made plenty of fun at civilians, but to actually attack one without provocation was a serious offense.
Just the video should be all of the “investigation” they need. The guy proved that he’s a asshole. I could see reduction in rank, a large fine plus damages and at least 30 days confinement with extra duty.
I wasn’t a Marine, but in the Army he’d be fudged. An NCO getting caught on tape doing something that brought dishonor to the service… that is not going to end well for him at all.
That dude’s ass would be in a sling. Threatening bodily harm to another, cussing out a crippled female Marine, generally being an ass, and humiliating the Corps on national TV. He’s screwed.
I’m happy to see that the other Marines stepped in to try to calm things down. I would have called 911, obviously. Since that was going too or from a military base, they would necessarily have been not armed with handguns, but in any case when I was carrying, I would have unholstered and made it pretty clear that any breach of the window would have resulted in gunfire.
NC law says
(d) A person who unlawfully and by force enters or attempts to enter a person’s home, motor vehicle, or workplace is presumed to be doing so with the intent to commit an unlawful act involving force or violence.
(e) A person who uses force as permitted by this section is justified in using such force and is immune from civil or criminal liability for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman who was lawfully acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer or bail bondsman identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman in the lawful performance of his or her official duties.
(f) A lawful occupant within his or her home, motor vehicle, or workplace does not have a duty to retreat from an intruder in the circumstances described in this section.
That means that this Marine crossed the line into “legal to shoot” territory at the very start of the video.
At that range I “could” have shot him. In the sense that I am capable of hitting him through the glass.
In those circumstances, and under the laws of North Carolina, I may have shot him. May, in the sense of it would have been legal for me to do so.
The only thing that would have kept me from shooting was that it was not so bad that I “must” shoot him.