simard@loral.UUCP (Ray Simard) (01/22/85)
A small clarification...
Mr. Goetz has been characterized as a "vigilante". However, such a
description suggests one who actively seeks out those he considers criminals
to exact his own form of justice. Therefore, since Mr. Goetz was not look-
ing for the individuals who accosted him, but rather reacted to them when
they found him at random, he is not a vigilante, but rather a citizen acting
solely in self-defense.
--
[ I am not a stranger, but a friend you haven't met yet ]
Ray Simard
Loral Instrumentation, San Diego
{ucbvax, ittvax!dcdwest}!sdcsvax!sdcc6!loral!simard
...Though we may sometimes disagree,
You are still a friend to me!srm@nsc.UUCP (Richard Mateosian) (01/24/85)
In article <759@loral.UUCP> simard@loral.UUCP (Ray Simard) writes: >Since Mr. Goetz was not looking for the individuals who accosted him, but >rather reacted to them when they found him at random, he is not a vigilante, >but rather a citizen acting solely in self-defense. Do you know he wasn't looking for them? He was a lot better prepared for the incident than he had been the time he was mugged, and I'm sure he must have spent some time before the incident fantasizing about what he'd do. This last New Year's Eve my wife's purse was snatched as we were pushing our way through the crowds in Trafalgar Square. We later recovered it intact, since the fleeing hoodlum (a young black man) threw it aside or dropped it as I was chasing him. Nonetheless, I didn't see him drop it, and I didn't catch him, so I didn't know we'd get it back until the next day. I remember the rage that consumed me as we were making our report to the police at the scene. I recall making statements about what I'd have done if I'd caught him that were as outrageous as those Goetz is said to have made to the police. For days afterward, even after we'd recovered the torn but intact purse, I had rage-filled fantasies about catching and "punishing" the young hoodlum. I shudder to think of the awful, barbaric things I did to that young man in my fantasies. Now I wasn't mugged, and although my wife suffered an injury to her hand from the brief but violent struggle for her purse, she didn't really suffer much physical harm. When I think of the rage and violent fantasies that I harbored for a significant time afterward, I can well empathise with Goetz, who apparently suffered real injury and inconvenience when he was mugged. Was he looking for someone to wreak his revenge upon, at least on some level? I don't know. Neither do you. -- Richard Mateosian {allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!srm nsc!srm@decwrl.ARPA