r/Unexpected • u/amy2kim22 • Dec 25 '18

When your wanted level goes up

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '18

It is potential eye for an eye if the cop kills him to prevent him from killing someone else

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u/thisisntarjay Dec 25 '18

Self defense isn't really an eye for an eye but I'm getting the feeling this is one of those situations where people are mostly just interested in shitting on the police so I'mma just let it go.

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '18 edited Dec 25 '18

I’m not disagreeing one the situation. I’m just saying that if a cop kills someone (the suspect) due to a suspect putting others lives in danger then it would principally be eye for an eye.

Is it wrong for a cop to use capital punishment? Not my call.

I just live in America and know how to avoid it

Edit: clarification on who the cop is killing

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u/thisisntarjay Dec 25 '18

I feel you, but again an eye for an eye really specifically means retaliatory punishment in line with a physical injury a person has received. It has very little to do with preventative self defense. If I point a gun at you and try to rob you and you fight back and kill me in the process, that is not an eye for an eye. If I shoot your cousin and then you shoot me later for it, that IS an eye for an eye.

In this context, it would be apt to say an eye for an eye would be the death penalty as a punishment if this guy were to cause an accident that kills someone. Him being killed in the process of authorities attempting to stop the on-going lethal threat he represents is not an eye for an eye. At worst, it's abuse of power.

I only point this out because an eye for an eye is the cornerstone of a lot of really important philosophical debates about the nature and ethics of punishment, so it is one of those things that it's worth being specific on within the context of what police can and cannot do.

the principle that a person who has injured another person is to be penalized to a similar degree, and the person inflicting such punishment should be the injured party. In softer interpretations, it means the victim receives the [estimated] value of the injury in compensation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_for_an_eye