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Originally Posted by Ustwo
If you start a malicious fire on purpose and a fireman dies I think you are guilty of manslaughter. I've heard of arsonists charged with murder for that sort of thing before. Likewise you put these men in danger by your own illegal actions. As a direct result they were put in the same danger. Had one died it was your illegal action which resulted in their death. Law and fire officers put their lives in danger every day because of people doing stupid stuff, but to do something stupid on purpose raises it from 'job hazard' to 'willfull endangerment'
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They aren't deliberately creating a situation where a rescue vehicle or person will be in danger. They are only putting themselves in danger. That's now a lot of nonviolent protest work. I myself have put myself in front of things that could hurt me in protest. It was not to put in danger those who would stop me, but to help those who are in the process of doing something harmful to allow their humanity (not wanting to kill me) override their want to do what they're doing. It's really quite simple.
If, as an example from the Simpsons, I were to live in a tree expected to be cut down, I would only be putting myself in danger to prevent that tree from being removed. The police are under no obligation to put themselves at risk to stop me, and are free to find alternatives that are less dangerous if they choose to try and get me down.
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Originally Posted by Ustwo
It would be easy to argue that they 'captured' the vessel since it was unable to go about its business due to their illegal actions. As such it would be larceny (they deprived the owner of their property) and I'd call it piracy as well. Just because they didn't go into port to sell their prize doesn't mean the ship wasn't in effect commandeered.
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It's a very weak argument to say they captured anything. The protesters joined workers on the boat. The only reason the boat didn't move was because the helmsman (correct term?) didn't want to hurt the protesters near the rudder. BTW, looking at the picture, the protester would have been fine assuming the line she was on was strong enough. The ship could have moved easily, therefore there was no capture.
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Originally Posted by Ustwo
What you see as a peaceful protest I see as the capture of a ship at sea. Do you think the crew had any right to stop them from doing what they did? Say subdue them and put them in a makeshift brig? What about shooting them as they tried to board?
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Shooting them would have clearly been excessive, as they made their intentions clear before even boarding the ship when they radioed them. They radioed in over a half an hour before the initial boarding. I would have just notified the coast guard. I mean how far out can the coast guard be on Lake Erie?
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Originally Posted by Frosstbyte
It blows my mind that some of you people think that boarding a ship is a legitimate form of protest.
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Where did anyone say that? I must have missed it.