"A sudden and acute failure of the victim selection process"

The title of this blog post is how one of my teachers, Massad Ayoob, describes the fate of those who pick on harmless-looking victims, only to find out that they're not so harmless after all - and not prepared to be victimized.

Two news stories fitting this description caught my eye today.  The first comes from Detroit.

Witnesses told investigators the driver was northbound at Telegraph attempting to turn east onto Northline when Enoch, who was on his yellow, 10-speed bicycle, disregarded a “do not cross” light. Enoch’s bicycle struck the passenger side of the vehicle.

The driver immediately stopped after realizing Enoch had been struck, police said. Witnesses told police Enoch got up and confronted the motorist through an open window on the driver’s side.

Enoch repeatedly punched the motorist, according to witness accounts. The driver then pulled a pistol and fired one round at the bicyclist, striking him in the chest, police said.

There's more at the link.

The second incident occurred in New York City.

A drunken Queens man went berserk after he couldn’t get an ATM to work at a gas station early yesterday and was killed when he turned his rage to the attendant — a former competitive kickboxer.

“I feel bad. I didn’t mean for the guy to die. He called me a Taliban,” said Jasjeet Walia, who was released from custody last night after being grilled by cops all day.

. . .

Cops identified the dead man as Oscar Arzeno, 28, of Franklin Avenue in Flushing.

Arzeno had just collected a bundle of cash from a police-brutality suit against the NYPD.

Surveillance video from the Long Island City Gulf station on Van Dam Street shows Arzeno sucker punching Walia in the eye after a heated argument.

Walia throws a combination of punches before delivering a roundhouse kick to the head.

The fight spills out into the street, where Walia knocks Arzeno to the ground and gets him in a chokehold.

“He started kicking the machine out of anger. He was saying, ‘Your gas station sucks. You suck!’ ” recalled Walia’s brother, Rajeet, who also works at the station.

“My brother is not a badass. He is just a regular guy. He doesn’t pick a fight. He is a soft-spoken guy. He did kickboxing in Mumbai. He has competed all over India.”

Again, more at the link.

It's too late for the aggressors in both incidents to learn from their mistakes . . . but two potential victims of crime are instead safe and well tonight, because they trained and/or equipped themselves to take care of business when necessary.  Good for them!

Peter