Blaze News original: 5 infuriating times authorities punished victims of physical attacks — as well as a Good Samaritan

If there's one thing that's guaranteed to get blood boiling in most people, it's catching wind of authorities punishing and penalizing and targeting victims of physical attacks — and even Good Samaritans who step up to help victims.

Blaze News on Friday reported about that very topic: A pro-Israel demonstrator was arrested after allegedly shooting an unhinged male who sprinted across a street and tackled him during a pro-Israel rally in Newton, Massachusetts, the evening before.

'The school can preach all it wants that they're anti-bullying and place it on their website, but they are sending a message to this kid and the rest of the student body that this behavior is acceptable.'

Cellphone video shows an angry bearded male — who reportedly was wearing a Palestinian pin — sprinting across the street, leaping at, and tackling the pro-Israel demonstrator. Three seconds after their bodies hit the sidewalk, a pop is heard — presumably the gunshot. A separate video appears to show that same pro-Israel demonstrator saying to "call 911," telling someone who's yelling at the attacker, "Stop! Go away!" — and then rendering aid to the wounded male.

Despite what was seen on video, 47-year-old Scott Hayes of Framingham — identified as the pro-Israel demonstrator — was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and violation of a constitutional right causing injury, WCVB-TV reported. What's more, authorities believe Hayes legally possessed the firearm, WCVB reported, and he reportedly is an Iraq War veteran who is not Jewish but often attends protests carrying American and Israeli flags.

One X user commented, "Ironically this is a perfect metaphor for Israel vs Palestine" before adding a typical sequence of events: "Palestine attacks; Israel shoots in self defense; everyone blames Israel." Hayes was granted bail Friday.

So take a deep breath and calm that blood pressure before you read on about five other infuriating times authorities punished victims of physical attacks as well as Good Samaritans.

Canadian cops charge victim of bat attack with aggravated assault after he took bat from attacker and hit him with it

Police in Peterborough — which is in Ontario and just shy of two hours northeast of Toronto — said they were called to a convenience store in the King Street and Bethune Street area around 2:30 a.m. Jan. 5 and found that the male clerk was helping a customer when a second male holding a baseball bat entered the store demanding money.

Police said a struggle ensued, and the clerk was struck with the bat before grabbing the bat from the suspect, who fled the store. The clerk followed the suspect out of the store and hit him with the bat several times, police said.

The suspect suffered head injuries and was in a Toronto hospital receiving treatment, police said, adding that emergency medical services treated the 22-year-old clerk at the scene.

Police said they issued an arrest warrant for the 37-year-old male suspect for robbery, assault with a weapon, and possession of weapon. However, cops also said they arrested the clerk and charged him with aggravated assault and that the clerk was held in custody and appeared in court the following day.

It appears members of the public expressed outrage once word got out about cops arresting and charging the clerk — so much so that Police Chief Stu Betts issued a rare public statement defending the decision and calling criticism "unfair."

"Yes, this case is unusual, but in a world where security cameras are everywhere, do you really think we would not have seized & reviewed the footage as part of the investigation and prior to laying charges?" Betts asked detractors. "If you follow anything in the media, you will know that I cannot speak to the particulars of this case because it is before the Court, but if you have a desire to know what has led to the charges, follow the case in Court. Allow the facts of the case to guide your commentary and opinion, not your reaction to a headline."

Betts added, "This is not about politics — politics have nothing to do with the facts. This is not about race — as some have suggested. This is not about the perception that criminals go free while victims of crime are penalized — this is about the law. I encourage you to stop and think about things before determining what you think has happened, or that an injustice has taken place, because I’m quite confident that not one person who has made a comment about this case has seen the video or has access to the actual facts."

The Toronto Sun reported in April that the crook who hit the clerk with the baseball bat was sentenced to 18 months in jail while the clerk who hit him back with the bat — international student Tejeshwar Kalia — faces up to 14 years in jail. You can view a video report here, which includes an interview with Kalia and surveillance video of the incident.

The Sun said the video shows Kalia didn’t gain control of the bat until he and the assailant were outside, and at that point Kalia lunged at the assailant who was reaching for his pocket and said he would "stab me," Kalia added.

The paper added in a follow-up story that while GoFundMe cancelled Kalia's crowdfunding campaign after it had raised $16,000 to help him pay for legal help as well as rent, food, and school expenses, GiveSendGo and its co-founder reached out to Kalia to try to help him. The Sun added that Kalia is out on bail but under house arrest, which means he can't work and has no money.

Liquor store owner shoots shoplifting suspect who kicked, punched him — but DA presses charges against liquor store owner

A New York City liquor store owner faced serious charges earlier this year after he shot a male caught on video stealing from his store.

Surveillance video showed two men — later identified as Edwin Poaquiza and Kevin Pullatasi — walk into Francisco Valerio's business, Franja Wine and Liquors, on Wyckoff Avenue in Queens around 7:40 p.m. on May 20. WABC-TV published portions of the security video.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz stated that Valerio's brother Luis — who's also a store employee — confronted Pullatasi after seeing him take a liquor bottle from a shelf and conceal it under his jacket. Francisco Valerio likewise saw Poaquiza take a liquor bottle from a shelf and place it inside his jacket. The Valerios had Poaquiza and Pullatasi return the liquor bottles, after which Poaquiza and Pullatasi said they wanted to buy them. The Valerios asked them to leave, and a verbal argument started. The Valerios then pushed the pair out of the store, and the argument continued. Pullatasi ran toward the liquor store doorway, after which one of the Valerios kicked Pullatasi — and Pullatasi kicked both men, punched them, and tried to slam the door on their hands.

Francisco Valerio — who has a concealed-carry permit — took out his gun and shot Pullatasi when attempting to strike him with the firearm. Pullatasi was shot once in the abdomen and taken to a hospital where he was treated for internal bleeding. Responding officers recovered a 9mm semi-automatic pistol from Valerio.

Katz said that while Poaquiza and Pullatasi were charged with petit larceny, Valerio was charged with assault in the second and third degrees, reckless endangerment in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. If convicted of the top count, Valerio faces up to seven years in prison.

Valerio told a detective that the shooting was accidental, and his defenders say it was in self-defense.

"It's all based through the eyes of the person who was involved. Only Frank knows the circumstances that he was facing," said Johnny Nunez, a friend of the family. "We have one crime, one crime. They were stealing. Frank did not commit a crime."

Jael — Valerio's wife of 30 years — said they would lose the store if her husband is convicted.

"These few days have been very, very hard. You would think somebody that is always doing the right thing, by others, by his peers, by everybody, and then this small incident happen[s], and he can lose his freedom over that? I don't know what to say," she said, adding that "if he has to go to jail, I don't know what the kids are going to do."

Valerio's family said he has a permit to carry concealed.

Fernando Mateo of the United Bodegas of America held a press conference to defend Valerio and demand that Katz drop the charges against him: "Francisco did not know what [the suspect] had in his hand. Could've been a gun, could've been a knife."

They also pointed out that Valerio, 53, has no previous criminal record: "New York is our witness. We're not asking the district attorney for anything that's not fair."

"Do the right thing by him," Jael Valerio added. "He's one of the good ones."

Store customer charged with murder after fatally shooting shoplifting thug who was beating 2 female store employees 

Just before 7:30 p.m. Nov. 29, 2022, Dallas police received a report about a shooting at a Family Dollar store in the city's Oak Cliff neighborhood. When police arrived, they discovered 26-year-old Phillip Betts shot dead — along with the man who allegedly shot him, 47-year-old Kevin Jackson Sr.

Earlier that evening, a female assistant manager recognized Betts lurking in the store, and she claimed he'd robbed the store several other times, so she demanded he return all the items in his possession and leave the store.

When Betts didn't initially comply, the woman grabbed his backpack. Betts then briefly stepped outside but returned a short time later and attacked the manager who had kicked him out, "striking her multiple times with his fists," reports say.

Another female employee witnessed Betts assault the manager and sprayed him with Mace in an attempt to force him off the property. The struggle between Betts and the two women continued, and at some point, Betts fought at least one of the females behind the store register.

Jackson reportedly entered the store at about that time, saw the altercation between Betts and the two women, and yelled, "Move!" Once the women complied with the directive, Jackson supposedly took out a gun and fired a single shot at Betts. Though firefighters attempted to provide lifesaving assistance, Betts died from his injuries at the scene.

Jackson told police he believed the women were in danger, and police acknowledged that Betts had been committing a robbery when he was shot — and that was with a "legal" gun. Still, police arrested Jackson and charged him with murder, saying that Betts "did not have any weapons at the time of the incident." Police also pointed to surveillance video that they said showed Betts had moved away from the women and toward the exit and therefore no longer posed a threat.

Jackson, who has no known criminal history, was booked into Lew Sterrett Jail and was held on $100,000 bond.

Fast forward to August 2023 — nearly nine months after the incident — and a grand jury declined to indict Jackson for the fatal shooting due to lack of evidence to support a murder charge, KDFW-TV reported. Jackson told the station he had been working as a truck driver and was looking forward to putting the incident behind him. It isn't clear how long Jackson spent in jail or how much money he ended up spending on attorneys.

You can view a news video here on the culmination of the case.

Chicago cops arrest woman for not having concealed-carry license after she shot teen who physically attacked her, tried to steal her property

Araceli Diaz, 21, met up with a 14-year-old girl on a Chicago street to conduct a sale on the afternoon of Nov. 29, 2019, police said in a news release — and then things quickly went downhill.

Diaz was selling a dog to the girl, WGN-TV reported. But the transaction was cut short when the girl pulled a pellet gun, struck Diaz in the head with it, and tried to take Diaz's property without paying for it, police said. With that Diaz pulled a real gun and shot the teen twice in the chest, WGN said.

The teen was taken to a hospital in critical condition, WGN reported. She was arrested the next morning at Stroger Hospital, WFLD said. Police said the teen was charged with attempted robbery with a firearm — a felony — and was scheduled to appear in juvenile court Dec. 9.

A witness told WGN the shooter got in a car and left the scene. Police said Diaz was arrested an hour later and charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a felony. While Diaz had a valid Firearm Owners Identification card, she didn't have a concealed-carry license, police said.

Commenters on Fox News' report about the shooting had the following to say:

• "What kind of crap is this? She needs a permit to defend herself? This is why liberals shouldn't be allowed out of the sand box, they make dumb rules."
• "Now that the robber survived the gun shot she can sue Diaz for pain and suffering."
• "Classic libby move arrest the victim to protect the criminal."
• "If I were a communist dictator that was trying to give the appearance of a legitimate leader, I would also give meaningless 'Firearm Identification Cards' to people and then charge them with a crime when they tried to defend themselves, too."
• "The city needs to change their laws. If a person can get an FOID, then they can defend themselves."
• "Chicago is a war zone but an honest citizen cannot carry a gun. More progressive democrat baloney."

Middle schooler placed in choke hold, gets neck wrenched; school allegedly faults victim while attacker — said to be a wrestler — is less severely disciplined

In the wake of a viral video showing a boy seated at a Texas school lunch table being placed in a choke hold, dragged from his chair, and then getting his neck wrenched in the spring of 2022, parents of the attacked student said Coppell Middle School North determined their son was at fault and that he received harsher discipline than his attacker.

The mother of Shaan Pritmani said in a Change.org petition — signed by more than 360,000 people as of Thursday morning — her son was "physically attacked and choked by another student at his middle school" during lunch May 11. The mother, Sonika Kukreja, added that the school said her attacked son "was at fault and received a 3-day" in-school suspension while "the aggressor only received a 1-day" suspension.

The petition adds that the victim's friends shared video of the assault and said Shaan "wasn't at fault" — but school officials weren't changing their ruling. In addition, the petition claims the school resource officer "refused to file a citation because [the] school administration asked it not be written, as there have been too many bullying complaints lately."

In addition, the petition states the boy who placed the choke hold on Shaan "is on the wrestling team and can be seen carrying out a very dangerous carotid restraint on Shaan's neck. This technique restricts blood flow to a person's brain by compressing the sides of the neck where the carotid arteries are located. Shaan appears to briefly lose consciousness at the end of the neck choke maneuver."

A WFAA-TV reporter posted a tweet containing a blurred video of the attack.

“It was horrible. I couldn't sleep for three nights straight. It felt like I was being choked. I cried many times watching it,” Kukreja told KXAS-TV.

"His neck could’ve snapped," she added to WFAA-TV. "I wouldn’t have my son."

She added to the station that she's "deeply concerned about the safety of our children and the message our school board, our police department, is sending out by not acting on this."

Superintendent Brad Hunt said in an email to parents that “Coppell ISD is aware of a video circulating on social media showing an incident at Coppell Middle School North involving a physical altercation between two students. Bullying, both verbal and physical, as well as physical acts of aggression are never acceptable and do not align with who we are at CISD and our core values."

The email added that "because of student privacy laws and this being an ongoing investigation, we cannot share any further specifics on this situation or student discipline matters."

Mark Lassiter, attorney for the family of the other student, told KXAS his client was responding to vulgar and violent threats against his family: “We are confident that after all the facts are revealed, the case will be closed and no further action will be taken other than what the school has already decided was appropriate."

In a statement to WFAA, Lassiter said, "We welcome a chance for the truth to come out that the young man who was pulled from the table made threats."

Marwa Elbially, attorney for Shaan's family, told KXAS she denies the accusations and said the attack shouldn't have happened: “The school can preach all it wants that they're anti-bullying and place it on their website, but they are sending a message to this kid and the rest of the student body that this behavior is acceptable."

Elbially added to WFAA that the student who put the choke hold on Shaan "could’ve potentially paralyzed or have killed him. No real action is taken against that kid."

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