I happen to be a great supporter of individual freedoms. I think that people should be able to be naked in public, drink in public, party in public. Two people should be able to have a fight, if mutually agreed upon. However, it is simply not right to have twenty people kicking and hitting and basically slaughtering one poor guy. The problem is, this happens with alarming frequency. It was pretty much a riot in Seattle the other night. People bashing in store windows, taking off with merchandise, kicking in car windows, all that sort of stuff. It was such a high level of violence that police in full riot gear did not dare intervene for fear for their lives.
It's a fine line to walk. Freedom of the individual versus freedom of society. Where do you draw that line? Say you're Joe Shmoe. It's mardi gras, you're looking for a good time. You go downtown, hoping to have a bit of fun. You're mixing with the crowd, everybody's laughing, things are good. All of a sudden, the mood turns ugly. The guy beside you throws a rock through a jewelery store window. Uh oh. Not good. You try to get out of there. A surge of people eager to get into the looting makes it impossible. Police arrive in riot gear. You're in the store. They shoot a tear gas canister in, you're hit with a rubber bullet, arrested. All you wanted was to have some fun!
So how to do it? I guess the cops have to use force only on the people who they see using force themselves. But it's hard isn't it? Hard to tell sometimes. I don't know what the solution really is. But when the gathering turns from peaceful into violence, I would authorize the police to use whatever force they feel is necessary to stop it. I don't think it's out of line to call in the military to guard against mobs either. Killing people....now that's a different story. Sometimes you get mobs who want to kill. I don't have a problem with killing people who try to kill you first. But again, with a mob, very hard to tell. Have to be sure. So I guess the onus is on the people in the mob. If the peaceful gathering turns bad, then you get the hell outta there. Or be prepared to face the consequences. Potential death. And for the police, as long as the gathering is not violent, simply do nothing. Stores should put bars on their windows to prevent looting. If the mob turns violent though, I would give the police/military carte blanche to act however they see fit.