Quote:
Originally Posted by Willravel
I believe that if you're attacked by a police officer, you do not have a legal right to defend yourself. I know all the rules about being pulled over by a cop or having a cop show up at my door, but I don't think there are a set of "well it's my right to..." if you're physically attacked. While the cop or cops may get in trouble later, during the physical attack I don't believe that you have a legal method of defense other than to flee. If you strike back in any way, you're guilty of a crime and the police officer may not be reprimanded because you were guilty of attacking him.
Am I wrong about this? If I'm right, does this seem fair?
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Will, you are wrong about that. Wearing a badge does not give a police officer carte blanche to use force whenever they feel like it. If you are assaulted, wrongly, that officer is out of line with his job description and is operating outside the law at that point. Texas law specifically states that deadly force can be used if you are in imminent fear of your life and does not exclude peace officers if they use more force than is necessary to enact an arrest.
Now, if one happens to find themselves using deadly force in fear for their life against law enforcement, you will find yourself arrested and charged with capital murder. As cops are fond of saying, you might beat the rap, but you will not beat the ride. This attitude is the result of decades of brainwashing and societal conditioning enforced upon us to blindly accept the power and authority of government agents, legal or not. We get the government we don't fight back against.