Dunkin employee fatally punches customer

I'm not sure that's an accurate portrayal of what happened or people's feelings on the matter. He punched him. That was out of line. The guy's behavior was out of line too. He verbally assaulted all the employees in that restaurant, the defendent, in particular.  So much so that they were trying to call the police on him.  Was it right to punch him? No. But never in a million years did that employee think that a punch would be a murder. It wasn't a murder, it was an assault. The fact that he died when he hit his head after the assault was unfortunate. But the defendent is not a killer.  IMO, he got appropriately punished for what he did.  

Maybe you disagree but I am having quite a bit of fatigue right now with people behaving like asshole.  The "victim" here was behaving like an asshole.  How much verbal abuse is someone expected to take before they snap?  

Not great behavior on both sides, the 'victim' verbally assaulted the employees of the facility, both inside and out. They were all victims of his actions. He was ask to leave several times.

The young man asked someone to call the police before he approached the 'victim'. The young man punched him. Why would he think it would be fatal. I surely wouldn't.

Keep in mind the 'victim' had been there and likely it was repeated behavior, which might have escalated previously.

Battery is a charge that you get when you punch somebody. The fact that that punch killed someone makes it a felony battery. It’s not homicide, it’s not murder, it’s not manslaughter. It’s actually an accident of death. Apparently there was absolutely no evidence that he meant to do anything but punch this guy for the racial slurs. His death was accidental in that he bumped his head. He was also the aggressor. (If the kid was in the middle of robbing a house or if he was in the middle of stealing a car and he accidentally killed someone, then it would have been felony murder.)

I think the comments you are objecting to may be expressing the very human feeling that at times it's hard to ignore people who are being aggressive and hostile.

The behavior of the man who died was unacceptable.
The reaction of the employee was unacceptable.
The conviction and sentence are appropriate. There was no intent whatsoever and no reasonable person would expect a punch to result in a person's death.

At the most he was going to be convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the death, he was convicted of felony battery. In Florida the difference is one degree — a F2 v F3. Given the defendants lack of any criminal history, lack of intent and the Victims instigation and aggressive behavior this is an entirely reasonable plea bargain and sentencing. Not to mention the collateral effects of having been convicted of felony battery. It’s an entirely reasonable outcome.

Silly, stand your ground laws are only intended to protect gun-wielding vigilantes. Not regular people suffering abuse at the hands of a nutjob.

When people opt to purposely enter into aggressive or otherwise negative interactions with other people, there is a risk involved.

If you break into empty homes to steal TVs, you can tell yourself you're not taking any major chances with your life, but one day, if a house turns out to be less empty than you thought, you can find yourself at the wrong end of a gun.

If you repeatedly hurl racial slurs at people and verbally abuse them, you can tell yourself that no one would dare do anything to you, but one day, you may catch someone at the end of their rope, and you may find yourself at the end of a fist.

And that goes for road rage incidents, and neighborly "pranks" that go too far or on for too long, for bullies at school, and so on and so on.

If you continually treat other people in an abusive manner, you are taking risks. And to go after the same people over and over, means increasing that risk, because the victims of your behavior will likely grow more and more desperate to stop you from treating them that way as times goes by.

Both people here did something they should not have done. But one was making the advance decision to come here and purposely abuse these employees, while the manager made a snap reaction that I am absolutely sure he did not ever think would end in anyone dying. And of these two people, I can understand finally snapping at someone who won't stop this sort of behavior, but I do not understand exhibiting such hateful behavior in the first place at all.



(As an aside, I actually did used to know someone whose relative was killed from a punch to the face. They didn't fall or hit their head. The actual punch was angled in just the "right" way that it killed them. But even with that story in the back of my mind, I still know that it is certainly much more rare for someone to die from single punch than not and I do not expect that anyone dealing out a single punch would be intending to kill anyone.)

Kyle Rittenhouse.

People think his sentence was appropriate. And a not-small portion of people are fine with the fact that he punched the guy, and think they would have done the same thing, given the other man’s actions.

Neither of those is the same as being “ok” with the man’s death.

Why are you only concerned with the young man controlling himself? The older man certainly didn’t.

Lets turn that the other way shall we.

In a civilized society do you get to racially abuse someone twice with the most aggressive and offensive term in the English language  and expect no repercussion for your actions?  Yet you describe that as just an insult?
I don't think for one moment that this young man intended his actions to have such severe consequences but I can understand why he did what he did. 

For you to compare the victim's actions as just as an insult says a lot about you and your " white privilege" 

The sentence was appropriate. I daresay if this were a white man, he might have a few hours of community service.

There seem to be 2 different sets of expectations within the justice system. White justice, especially white male justice which often brings more privilege, money and public sympathy to the table. And then justice for people of color or ethnicity who are often prejudged due to the color of their skin and lack the financial resources to mount a hearty defense. The population of our prisons reflects this.