Live By The Sword Die By The Sword

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A little over a month ago an incident occurred in Shiner, Texas which was covered here on MMA with plenty of “hoorahs” for the hero dad. Perhaps that was a bit premature.

Here’s the story:

During a social gathering on Saturday, the girl went inside the family’s home in Shiner while other members of the family were tending to horses outside, CNN reported.

The father caught a 47-year-old man — with whom he was casually acquainted — attempting to molest his daughter, Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon told the Victoria Advocate. The father then allegedly punched the man in the head until he died, Harmon reported.

The father and daughter weren’t named to protect the identity of the 4-year-old girl. She was described as “ok, besides the obvious mental trauma” of the incident, Harmon said.

The alleged abuser was found dead at the scene. His name wasn’t released pending the announcement of his death to his family.  The sheriff’s office will defer to a grand jury to decide whether charges will be brought against the father.

“You have a right to defend your daughter,” he told CNN. “[The girl’s father] acted in defense of his third person. Once the investigation is completed we will submit it to the district attorney who then submits it to the grand jury, who will decide if they will indict him.”

The father was reportedly “very remorseful” about the death and did not know the alleged abuser would die of his injuries.

I had pointed out that the father may have gone too far since the report had said that he had stopped the molester and had beat him to death. It wasn’t that he had to beat him to death to stop the molester from abusing the child it was the rage and vengeance that was pumping in him that led him to continue pounding on the molester until he was dead. Most of the feedback to me sort of indicated that I didn’t have the good parental instinct that others did. Good riddance you say.

The issue is not that he had rid the world of a molester, The issue is that a man who was probably a good man let his anger and rage take over and drive him to do something that normally would not do. Read the following story to understand how things can go terribly wrong when good people go bad.

An off-duty police officer hit a four-year-old girl with his motorcycle and was then was physically attacked by and allegedly shot the child’s angry father. Just moments after a veteran Chicago police officer reportedly hit the young child, the girl’s irate dad allegedly physically attacked the law enforcement officer. The Chicago cop was on his way home from a shift when he saw the little girl running into the street, according to The Blaze. To prevent the motorcycle from running over the child, the officer jumped from the bike, pulling it down towards the pavement with him.

Although the quick actions by the Chicago police officer, 43, kept the motorcycle from running over the girl, it flipped on top of her and her cousin John Passley,18, as it skidded along the roadway. The police officer immediately began aiding the child when her father Christopher Middleton, 26, ran from a restaurant nearby. The Chicago law enforcement officer maintains he identified himself, but Middleton allegedly punched him in the face hard enough to knock him to the ground anyway. Christopher Middleton allegedly continued to hit the police officer repeatedly while he was on the ground, the Daily Herald reports.

“Take it easy, I’m the police,” the Chicago police officer stated, according to the Daily Herald. The injured girl’s father reportedly responded, “I don’t give a f**k who you are,” and punched the Chicago cop again. People walking by allegedly began kicking the officer, who was still on the ground, aiding Middleton in the physical attack.

The officer reportedly drew his service weapon to protect himself, fired once, and wounded Middleton fatally. Tina Middleton, the shooting victim’s sister, told the Chicago Sun Times that her brother was a good person and she believes he “was not out to harm” the officer.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Tina Middleton also stated during the newspaper interview. Christopher Middleton and his daughter were visiting relatives in his home town at the time of the accident. Middleton was planning on getting married on August 18; he also has a six-year-old son and unborn child.

The little girl hit by the Chicago police officer’s motorcycle suffered minor abrasions and contusions and was held in a local hospital overnight for observation and then released. Passley is being held by police officers for questioning about the attack and fatal shooting. The 8-year veteran Chicago police officer suffered a broken leg and shoulder from the crash and multiple contusions to his body and head from the attack. The shooting remains under investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority.

Quite simply put, those of you who were cheering for dad number one, be ashamed. We who are supposed to live in a civilized society do not exact revenge ourselves. That is why we have a justice system. There is still a possibility that dad number one may be charged with manslaughter. The Zimmerman – Martin case was about someone wanting to play cop, judge, and executioner. Dad number two was acting out of the same vengeance and rage as dad number one. In fact, if you notice even passers by even got into the act by kicking the downed motorcyclist who they perceived to be a wrong doer probably because the would be victim was a child. In the end, the would be hero dad ends up not only not being a hero but being a villain and getting killed in the process. That is why we supposedly have an objective party review the facts and pass judgement.

Now, a Chicago Police Officer who, seemingly, did everything he could to avoid hitting the little girl and certainly managed to avoid injuring her seriously will undergo the scrutiny of a Police Shooting Review Board. All because we tend to think of personal revenge first. As I have pointed out in earlier posts, the problem of violence in America is in its culture.

“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”
Confucius 551-479 BC

Thanks to The Inquisitor and The Huffington Post for their contributions.

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About Post Author

Bill Formby

Bill Formby, aka William A. Formby, PhD, aka Lazersedge is a former Marine and a former police officer. He is a retired University Educator who considers himself a moderate pragmatic progressive liberal, meaning that he thinks practically liberal, acts practically liberal, and he is not going to change in the near future. But, if he does he will be sure to let you know.
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Bill Formby
11 years ago

I am glad that you find this story helpful Carol. I wish that we could all deprogram a little of our reactionary rage out of our psyche.

Carol Maietta
11 years ago

Bill, For me, the two most important lessons from this very good post are:
1. a man who was probably a good man let his anger and rage take over and drive him to do something that normally would not do (I have seen this many times). And it takes a great deal of practice and emotional intelligence to disarm that button.

AND

2.“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”
Confucius 551-479 BC

I will certainly use these lessons in my world of HR.
Thanks

Gary William Green
11 years ago

Good read

Bill Formby
Reply to  Gary William Green
11 years ago

Thanks Gary.

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