An 18-year-old guy was beating his girlfriend as they got off the bus in Saint Paul, Minnesota, when a 33-year-old man came to the girl’s defense — and promptly got beat down. His training as a military police officer in the Minnesota National Guard wasn’t enough apparently.
Mark MacYoung explains how to be a good Samaritan without getting beat down:
When someone is actively engaging in physical violence, the last thing you want to do is run up… and then start woofing at him. And yet, this is what entirely too many people (who end up like the Samaritan in the story) attempt to do.
What they don’t understand is that if it’s gone physical, it is past the threat display and posturing stage that precedes most physical violence. In short, this tactic puts you into the middle of a situation, but you are way behind the power curve. And the attacker knows it. So it is extremely likely that he will simply turn his physical violence onto you.
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While running up to someone and yelling isn’t a good idea, staying back and yelling, has a far better track record — especially if you’re yelling that the police are coming. It’s even better if you’re telling the truth.911 on your cell phone, a “HEY YOU! I’M CALLING THE COPS!” and then giving the attacker’s location and description will do a whole lot more to scare him off than running up, sticking out your chest and calling him names.
Violent people tend not to be scared of you, but they are scared of the police — especially if the police show up while they are being violent. While the cops must be polite and restrained when the attacker isn’t doing anything (or has done something) when the police show up and he is being violent… all kinds of unpleasantness can happen. This includes him flopping on the floor while the taser does its five second cycle.