Reply #233: Finally a sensible post

[neohippie]

I knew when I saw this thread there would be a lot of opinion and not very much fact.


The story is barely out, the investigation is just starting and people are lining up on both sides of the fence racing to justice before we even know what actually happened.

On NPR today I heard an interview with some one local to that area who was talking about the how there has been tension in the woods for years between the people who consider themselves locals, funny they're not American Indian, and the immigrants from Vietnam. The locals it seems don't like the foreigners hunting on the white man's land, and there have been provocations and incidents in the past.

The problems is that private lands that border the national forest and other public lands, are not always clearly marked.

This guy claims that he was first insulted, slurrd and thought he was going to die and he was then shot at, and he only shot to defend himself. Since none of us were there and no one has really heard from the other side in this story how is it that so many people here can be so certain of what happened.

I don't know what happened but my interest is peaked.


Imagine if you were a Hmong refugee from Laos, and you are hunting in the woods, and then some people come up and tell you that they can kill you because it's their property and start demeaning you with racial slurs, and then call for back up on their radios, say they take a shot at you because instead of moving toward them when they order you to, you are scared and move away from them, they shoot, you shoot, maybe you hit somebody, more shots are fired, maybe you hit another person, they might be yards apart because they were chasing you... so maybe you keep running, then you hear people on ATVs or four runners, and you think they are also chasing you, who knows when the shots stopped being fired. Maybe the whole incident was acted out in self defense, maybe not? How do we know?


Imagine you are a Hmong refugee from Laos and for years the locals have taunted you and your people about hunting on their lands, insulting other people and you are fed up about it. Maybe you take an assault rifle into the words and pretend your hunting, purposefully trespassing onto private land hoping to stir up some trouble, and maybe a chance to kill someone and then try and cover your motive with a self defense story, who here thinks that they know what really happened?

How is it that we are so quick to rush to judgment. We only know what we have heard in the media, as respected as their reputation is on this board, I am shocked to see people here, at DU already certain of what must have occurred.