Slap a clown... everyone has a good laugh. But slap a killer... and you're likely dead. Let me explain.



The grainy black and white security cam footage is stark to the point of nausea. Like all murder, it's a kick in the guts how awfully stupid-simple killing really is. And, like the worst ones, it comes out of nowhere, sudden, final, and totally unexpected.

They don't even bump shoulders in front of the convenience store, just a casual brush of forearms, but enough to piss somebody off. The guy in the black sleeveless t-shirt turns and says something to the guy in the football jersey as he walks away. It probably wasn't nice. Football Jersey turns, probably answering the invective with a challenge. Black T saunters up, almost casual, and punches Football Jersey in the face. The blow does nothing more than rock his head back. Jersey takes a couple of steps away, though not from the punch. Because he wants to. There's an eerie calm about him. Black T swaggers toward him, slow, arms akimbo, body language questioning, "what now, coward?" In no particular hurry, Jersey pulls a nine-mil auto and empties it into Black T's head and chest.

The crowd breaks and runs, their backs strobe-lit by muzzle flashes.

What started as a usual Saturday night ends in death for the guy who, by all accounts, was on top of it. He was badass enough to insult people in public. He was confident enough in his fighting skills to throw the first punch. He was brave enough to push it and close distance to finish the job.

In the end, he lost his life not because the other guy had a gun, but because he slapped a killer. A mistake you usually only ever get to make once. He waded in, confident and in charge because every other time he did it he was slapping clowns. Every other time it ended in amusement for his friends as the clown laid down or ran away. This was obviously the first time he’d ever slapped a killer. And as it usually works out, the last.

This video is an ugly, awful reminder of how screwing around in violence can be lethal. Lethal for the confident, the skilled, the scrapper who's come out on top of dozens of altercations. Lethal for the competitor, the martial artist, the trained black belt. Lethal just that one, last time, the time you slap a killer.

Labels: criminal violence, gun, Intimidation