He's been arrested. Joe McKnight's shooter, Ronald Gasser, arrested on manslaughter charge: jail records http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/12/joe_mcknight_gasser_arrest.html#incart_2box
Poor people have a lot less ability to fight these kinds of bullshit fines, and lots of black and latino Americans are poor. Also, since society generally gives less of a shit when poor people of color are exploited than poor white people, it makes it less likely that the police are going to be held accountable. I agree with this, especially the last part. I haven't done a ton of research on the subject, but what I have learned is that having officers live in the communities they're policing does a lot more to improve citizen relations than just having officers of the same race.
And he will probably get off because NOLA is a cesspool. The aforementioned carjacking rule, and the fact that he never left his car, will likely precipitate this. Fucking absurd. You shot an unarmed man, after a traffic altercation, from your vehicle, and because a law states you are justified if you feel "endangered", its probably all good. Thats why he likely stayed, cause he knows Lousiana law supports him shooting first and explaining later in that scenario.
So basically, in LA and any other state with a "I'm scared!" castle doctrine clause, stay in your fucking car and wait for the cops, no matter who's at fault. Hell if they hit you and then flee, you following them might be considered a threatening action.
This came up a lot in the Trayvon Martin case. If you just snap and blow a guy away because he swore at you or something not deemed a reasonable threat level for that kind of response you go away for man slaughter, or 2nd degree murder. You have to demonstrate in court that there was reasonable justification. It seems like they should have held him in jail immediately following the shooting instead of letting him go and then arresting him, but I doubt we're getting all the details of what the officers were able to determine at the scene.
Sounds good in theory but I don't see it happening much. I know that if I grew up in the ghetto/barrio/whatever, then went to the police academy and stepped into a job making $80k (average first year pay for LEO in CA) I sure as hell wouldn't stay in the ghetto.
It looks as though this prick was arrested for a road rage assault before, right near the same intersection where he killed McKnight.
And that's probably when the cop told him what he had to do in order to not be arrested for road rage.
Whatever it is, it's giving every racial incident conspiracy theorist a raging hard-on right now. The incident's main witness was an in-uniform naval officer who also had the killer's gun pointed at him, and tried to save McKnight after he was shot. Maybe that's why the killer didn't try to leave the scene?
Sure, but being pissed that another guy, who we now know has a history of road rage and thus likely was driving like a larger than normal asshole, and confronting him doesn't mean you deserve to get gunned down. Its like saying "well maybe she shouldn't have been walking to her car alone at night" when a woman gets raped. Potentially true, but doesn't do anything but cloud the narrative.
In the real world, if you want to protect yourself, you have to make the assumption that the other person you are about to engage with, and know nothing about, will not play by the rules. That's why every good fight instructor says that your number one move is to disengage... run away, do whatever you have to in order to not fight... fight only as a last resort. As soon as you engage another person, you better be prepared for the worst. It sucks, but welcome to reality.
And this is why I always avoid physical confrontations. I know my limits, I know that I don't actually want to hurt someone, however, the person I'm engaging with may not give a single fuck and as far as I'm concerned, is capable of doing anything. Thats why its stupid to get in bar fights, especially little white suburban kids looking to prove themeslves. There's always someone out there who'd be more than willing to put you in your place, them and their 10 friends who would think nothing of stomping on you.
Deserved? No. Unexpected? Yes. Likely? Nobody knows which is why you don't engage with people in those situations. If you do, then sorry, but it's partly your fault. Sure, it should not have happened. But guess what, it did, so hopefully people will learn from it and not rely on their own expectations in such situations. It's a weird form of narcisism.
Whats the best case scenario of getting out of your car during a road rage incident? You walk up to the car and the guy politely apologizes and then you quietly walk back to your car feeling all serene?
I think for some the best case scenario is that you intimidate them and get a reaction. You may even get to assault them. But you may also get shot.
People die WAY too fucking often because they assume real life has some sort of unwritten (as you said) "fair rules" like they see in movies and TV. No. In Real Life when you get the upper hand, you get blasted by his friend on your blindside. Or stabbed or shot. Get knocked out on your feet, your skull hits the ground and you die. Macho behaviour doesn't get you the girl or carried around on everyone's shoulders. I blame much of that "type" of person/behaviour on youth, but when you're older you realize -- or SHOULD realize-- that fighting for any other reason than defending yourself or your own is dumb. The reward isn't glory. It's pain, jail or death. Roll the dice. Me? I'm gonna use my words. My hands and face will thank me later.
I have a question: The speed limits and rules of traffic in our countries are basically the same. Road rage is alien to me. Never have I had an incident that caused me or an assailant to actually pull over for the Ol'-face-to-face or get in a dangerous game of profanity tag. Even in Toronto (which is bigger than Chicago) people mostly talk with their horns when they're pissed. You're not exactly Russia, and I truly honestly love your country but you guys need to take a weekend at the spa together and work out your driving issues. And don't tell me this is hyperbole, because we had a TiB Skype hangout where everyone was puzzled how I've never been involved in road rage. And get rid of the laws that let you shoot anyone that makes you "fear for your life". The magic words of the past half decade.
It's less a problem with the laws and more a problem with people thinking the law covers things it doesn't. Self defense is an affirmative defense, meaning that by invoking it you're giving up your presumption of innocence (because you're admitting you did it) and are required to prove the actions you took were self defense, otherwise you will be convicted. On top of that, all of the self defense laws have some variation of a reasonable fear of grievous bodily harm, meaning that it doesn't matter if you're a giant blubbering pussy who shits himself at the sight of a black men, you have to prove that a hypothetical reasonable individual would feel the same fear. Unjustified fear is not a defense.
We have a case like that right now in Vegas. A store clerk shot and killed a 13 year old in what may have been a robbery. http://www.ktnv.com/news/update-video-of-night-teen-killed-in-attempted-robbery
What I don't get is why the media can't just explain the self defense laws instead of warping them into this 'kill whoever, just tell the cops you felt like it' narrative. They purposely quote snip it and cut off the pertinent sections that explain when self defense is permissible. "No duty to retreat." Kill. Kill. Kill. I refuse to believe they can't figure out what the law says. Do their ratings really go down if they explain what the law is? That's fucking sad.