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DeNoodle t1_iuy53mi wrote

>Police say the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office cited the possibility that the two sides in the shooting on May 30, 2018, were “mutual combatants” — a disputed legal concept that’s a throwback to duels between nobles or prearranged gunfights in the Wild West.
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>That prosecutors passed on charges on those grounds raises questions about whether Chicago gangs can literally get away with murder when it’s unclear who initiated a shooting and who returned fire in self-defense.

The solution is you prosecute everyone on both sides for attempted murder.

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JohnHwagi t1_iuz38uo wrote

You have the right to defend yourself from someone shooting at you, even if you are a minority in an area with gang violence. We cannot apply laws differently to suburbanites and to “people that look like they’re in a gang”.

There is no legal basis to charge someone who uses violence only after they are attacked unless you can prove beyond a reasonable doubt they did not have a legal justification to use force.

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