It wasn't a defense.  Hardly.  

Imagine that the white supremacists had their protest in one park, while those opposed had their protest in another park a few blocks over, standing up against hatred.  Today, we'd be talking about how the white supremacists looked like complete idiots and how reasonably the protesters responded.

Instead, some of the protesters went looking for a fight, the situation escalated, a nutbar lost his cool, and today we're talking about deaths while the extreme right postures about the loss of free speech.

A pedestrian has the right to cross the road when their light turns green.  But it is poor judgement to cross without looking anyway, or to assume a vehicle approaching at speed will stop.  It is unwise to place oneself in such danger just because one has the right.  

Unfortunate decisions were made by all sides...including the officials who granted the permit in the first place and then failed to have enough police to keep the two sides far apart.

Labels: moderation: safe