Florida sheriff backs Uber driver who killed 'goofball'

[jpak]

Source: BBC

An Uber driver shot and killed a motorist who confronted him in a case that police say was legally justified under Florida's stand your ground law.

Dashcam video shows Jason Boek, 34, swerving his truck in front of driver Robert Westlake, then jumping out and claiming to have a pistol.

Mr Westlake, 38, who had just completed training to be a police officer, fires once, fatally striking Mr Boek.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Mr Boek was a "goofball".

<more>

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45350434

[BlueStater]

1. Fuck this stupid law.

What if the victim was just mentally ill and needed help? No, let's just blow his brains out. That's easier.

[hack89]

5. Mentally people can still be violent

if someone forcibly stopped you on the highway and approached you in a threatening manner while yelling he had a gun and was going to shoot you, why is it unreasonable to assume your life was in danger?

[LanternWaste]

7. No one is arguing otherwise.

"Mentally people can still be violent..."

You did however, ignore additional and relevant qualifiers that were made in the post you responded to. I can certainly empathize why you'd do so...

[hack89]

9. All valid points if you have time to assess the situation

Last edited Thu Aug 30, 2018, 04:14 PM - Edit history (2)

not the case in this situation. I can certainly understand why you would choose to ignore the specifics of this incident ...

[drray23]

11. Read the article .

This guy was stalking his girlfriend at a bar. She went outside to help another friend get in an uber car. The guy thought his girlfriend had also taken the uber and set off in pursuit, ran the uber off the road And approach menacingly saying he had a gun. It was dark in the middle of nowhere. The uber driver fired one shot thinking he was in danger.
If there is a time when its justified it would be this .

[BlueStater]

16. Then you call it simply an act of self-defense, which is legal in any state.

You don't need to bring in that "Stand Your Ground" idiocy into the equation.

[drray23]

17. Yes i agree with that.

The sheriff's statement was bullshit.

[Dave Starsky]

19. This is just a good old case of self-defense.

"Stand your ground" is bullshit. Anyone can say they THINK they were being threatened. But if someone runs me off the road, gets out of their car, and then walks back and threatens me with a gun, well, of course I'm going to shoot them if I also happen to have a gun on me. What else am I supposed to do?

[X_Digger]

21. It's not whether or not you think you are threatened, regardless of the media hype.

It's about whether a reasonable person in similar circumstances would apprehend immediate grave injury or death.

Stand your ground just removes the previous duty to retreat.

[MicaelS]

18. Boek was a longtime criminal and asshole.

He got exactly what he deserved. He was a scumbag.

[rzemanfl]

2. I knew it was Grady Judd when I read the subject line. n/t

[peekaloo]

22. You mean "Lights! Camera! Grady!"

Gotta throw in some "straight talk" for his worshipers!

[titaniumsalute]

3. As much as I despise Grady Judd...

Did you watch the video and read the report?

The Uber driver was driving at night when a random pickup truck nearly runs him off the road and then stops the car. The driver quickly gets out and aggressively is seen walking to the car holding what could easily have been a gun. As a gun owner I would have also fired at him (and he verbally warned the driver that he had a pistol.)

I think stand your ground is a ludicrous law. Self defense is a defense in a court of law. But at the end of the day I would have probably fired my gun as well.

[rzemanfl]

10. I went with Judd's language. Other sherrifs would be more circumspect. n/t

[rzemanfl]

12. I'm sorry, I didn't notice you were replying to the OP.

I did read and watch. That doesn't change what I thought when I read the subject line. Grady Judd is a flamboyant, grandstanding piece of work.

[titaniumsalute]

14. No that's cool

I agree Grady can be a racist turd and way over the top. I used to live in Florida and whenever any story came out of Polk County it was weird. Judd is like a mob boss. He seems to always be involved in anything. Far RW nutter for sure.

[rzemanfl]

15. Thanks. n/t

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

4. No need to call him a goof ball

But he put himself in a situation where he could have been killed and unfortunately was.

[Jake Stern]

6. 100% support the Uber driver

Jason Boek's jealousy turned to rage and that rage cost him his life.

[hack89]

8. He actually killed a violent felon with an extensive criminal record

Officials with the county sheriff’s office said Boek, who was on probation for felony battery, has a criminal history that includes arrests for aggravated battery, burglary, forgery and larceny, among other things.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/08/30/an-uber-driver-killed-man-threatening-him-classic-stand-your-ground-case-fla-sheriff-says/?utm_term=.a7cde946a9ab

[joshcryer]

13. I don't think you need stand your ground here.

The video makes it very clear that a very violent and angry person was making deeply troubling threats after forcefully causing him to stop. If anything I'm glad his girlfriend got saved from that relationship, though it is unfortunate that he died.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

20. "Stand your ground" is not really necessary.

From the video, the Uber driver had little opportunity to retreat, and near zero chance of getting his passenger to safety. Simple self-defense.

Apparently, self-defense. I'm sure the police will view the rest of the video, showing more of the events leading up to the shooting. There may be more here than the video clip shows.