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Comment by burfog | Hacker News Reader

Missed the prime example: Eric Clanton

He taught ethics at a couple colleges in California. He evidently thought that it would be ethical, in his properly educated professional opinion, to attempt to murder people with different political views. Over multiple days and locations, he bashed a half dozen people in the head with a heavy metal bicycle lock.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/26/eric-clanto...

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It’s a misconception that the only good political actions are nonviolent. Many great political actions have had a large violent component, including those written down in the history books as nonviolent, such as the Indian independence movement, the American Civil Rights movement, and the South African anti apartheid movement.

The link says it was three people, during confrontations at/near a political tally. I don't know if you're speaking from further knowledge and the link is a preliminary report or something like that.

It was seven people[1] over multiple separate incidents during protests at Berkeley. The most famous video of one of the assaults is this one[2].

[1] https://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/08/08/eric-clanton-takes-3...

[2] https://youtu.be/9qKCl9NL1Cg

Curious why that resulted in misdemeanor probation rather than felony with prison time.

His violent actions are aligned with the prevailing politics in that area. He is thus protected. The politics also go against a meritocracy, and this is extended even to the court system. The merits of the case were less important, while the values espoused were more important.

IMHO this is corrupt and is a path toward being 3rd-world country.

I'm speaking from further knowledge, but grabbed the first article I could quickly find without super-awful ads.

Multiple people got in fights at multiple locations and times, mostly minor. Eric however, was at several of these fights and repeatedly used a weapon with the potential for cracking a skull and causing a brain bleed.

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