Pepper spray: Now to beat the lines for sales.

[SirNitram]

Link

A woman who pepper-sprayed other shoppers Thursday night at the Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch had armed herself with the caustic spray to gain an advantage in the fight for merchandise at the Black Friday sale, a fire captain said.

The woman, who is still being sought, used the spray in more than one area of the Wal-Mart "to gain preferred access to a variety of locations in the store," said Los Angeles Fire Capt. James Carson.

"She was competitive shopping," he said.

Twenty customers, including children, were hurt in the 10:10 p.m. incident. Shoppers complained of minor skin and eye irritation and sore throats, he said.

Black Friday's sales began at the Wal-Mart at 10 p.m. and featured door-buster sales on toys, including $5 Bratz dolls, $10 Wii video games and $29 tricycles.

Because pepper spray is so harmless and easy to neutralize, we now have a chemical weapon being used to beat the rush. No problem with that, surely. [/Sarcasm]

[Thanas]

I thought this was the Onion....then I checked the link.

[Tinkerbell]

I saw this earlier too, it's fucking ridiculous.

No thing you're going to buy is so important that it warrants physical assault like that.

On the other hand, the precedent was set less than a month ago that pepper spray is appropriate for use at a peaceful protest by police. I'm not saying that it makes it ok by any stretch, I'm just noticing the correlation. This idiot probably saw it on TV and thought that it must not be that bad. *shakes head*

[Serafina]

If any of the people assaulted by that woman had suffered from asthma or similar conditions, they could be dead by now.

[Block]

On the other hand, the precedent was set less than a month ago that pepper spray is appropriate for use at a peaceful protest by police. I'm not saying that it makes it ok by any stretch, I'm just noticing the correlation. This idiot probably saw it on TV and thought that it must not be that bad. *shakes head*

How is this a precedent? Unless she's a cop and had been ordered to remove them from the area, there's nothing even similar.

[Serafina]

She might have had the impression that pepper spray is harmless, only irritating and only in effect while you use it (and not for a long time thereafter). If so, using it like she did seems much more reasonable (yet still assholish).
Or she might just be a reckless asshole, but even then i don't think she would have used it if she were fully aware of the potential consquences of pepper spray - kinda like people tend to be overly trigger-happy with Tasers because they think nothing bad can happen due to them.

[SirNitram]

On the other hand, the precedent was set less than a month ago that pepper spray is appropriate for use at a peaceful protest by police. I'm not saying that it makes it ok by any stretch, I'm just noticing the correlation. This idiot probably saw it on TV and thought that it must not be that bad. *shakes head*

How is this a precedent? Unless she's a cop and had been ordered to remove them from the area, there's nothing even similar.

You don't grasp idiots well, I see. I'll run it down.

Pepper spray used -casually- just to move people in the way.
Heavy downplaying of any negative effects.
Major media network calls it a 'food product'.

Basically, enough of this and the less cortex developed will conclude it's a harmless tool for clearing a path for anyone. Hence, this.

[Stark]

If she saw it being used as a harmless way to get people to move, she may have decided it would be awesome in sales. The suggestion is that her decision is a side-effect of downplaying the effect of pepper spray in police use.

[Block]

On the other hand, the precedent was set less than a month ago that pepper spray is appropriate for use at a peaceful protest by police. I'm not saying that it makes it ok by any stretch, I'm just noticing the correlation. This idiot probably saw it on TV and thought that it must not be that bad. *shakes head*

How is this a precedent? Unless she's a cop and had been ordered to remove them from the area, there's nothing even similar.

You don't grasp idiots well, I see. I'll run it down.

Pepper spray used -casually- just to move people in the way.
Heavy downplaying of any negative effects.
Major media network calls it a 'food product'.

Basically, enough of this and the less cortex developed will conclude it's a harmless tool for clearing a path for anyone. Hence, this.

It can't just be that she's a selfish bitch who knew exactly what she was doing but didn't give a fuck because those toys were more important to her than strangers health or happiness? I mean people do get trampled to death at these things, so clearly people don't give a shit how much harm they do to someone else.

[Vendetta]

It can't just be that she's a selfish bitch who knew exactly what she was doing but didn't give a fuck because those toys were more important to her than strangers health or happiness? I mean people do get trampled to death at these things, so clearly people don't give a shit how much harm they do to someone else.

The causes of someone being trampled to death are very rarely related to the owners of the feet doing the trampling. They're usually due to the press of people far enough back that they don't know someone has fallen, and the fact that when a significant mass of people is moving like that you can't just stop or you're the one being trampled.

If this kind of event has happened at previous black friday retard-a-thons (even if it's just once every couple years) then this is likely a coincidental outbreak of bitchhood on the part of this woman. If, however, this is the first time someone at a mad shopping event has used OC spray to get ahead of the crowd, despite the fact that it's been on the market for some time, then it is more likely that it is related to the recent downplaying of the severity of the effects of the product.

[Simon_Jester]

It can't just be that she's a selfish bitch who knew exactly what she was doing but didn't give a fuck because those toys were more important to her than strangers health or happiness? I mean people do get trampled to death at these things, so clearly people don't give a shit how much harm they do to someone else.

If she were smart enough to know exactly what she was doing, she would be smart enough to know she is putting herself in danger of being arrested for assault.

That outweighs any advantage she might gain by getting easy access to cheap sales.

[Broomstick]

I thought this was the Onion....then I checked the link.

This is why I stay home on Black Friday.... I really do not need that level of insanity.

I was supposed to work at the shop today, but thanks to Ms. Irresponsible simply deciding not to show up earlier this week I wound up working her shifts and got today off. Woot!

Seriously, the Black Friday shit is getting totally out of hand.

[Simon_Jester]

Wait. You work in a shoe repair store. Do you get a Black Friday rush?

[Serafina]

You know, even stupid/selfish people rarely want to injure/kill/inflict pain on other people so casually.
If this woman had know that using pepper spray does/risks all of those, i seriously doubt that she would have used it. But of course US-media just recently told her that it is a completely harmless food product, so she didn't think any of this would be the case.

[Broomstick]

Wait. You work in a shoe repair store. Do you get a Black Friday rush?

Of course. Not to the degree the store the kiosk is located in gets a Black Friday rush, but in addition to folks planning to come by anyway, we have the folks who think "well, I'll be in store anyway, might as well drop off the boots/shoes/whatever for repair" and a certain number of on the spot emergency repairs every day. With more people funneling through the big store we'll get more foot traffic.

We are not, however, extending our hours today.

[Patrick Degan]

This says a lot about the sort of culture we're making for ourselves and posterity, and it's not pretty.

[Patrick Degan]

The stupid bitch probably didn't even think about getting away with it or getting caught or anything when she pulled out the can —all she
"thought" about was beating the person she sprayed to the toaster-oven or whatever the hell she "thought" was important enough to commit assault for.

[someone_else]

I think it's weird that none tried to stop her. Ok, that's pepper spray, but it is short ranged. Throw some heavy shit at her or use a long thing to beat ther up a bit until she drops the spray.

I'm not sure of the legal implications of doing so, but there would be plenty of witnesses (the sprayed people) that would confirm she started it.

That's telling the priorities of the rest of the customers in that moment.


Also, isn't that southern part of the US? Where are trigger-happy gunmen with colts when you need them? (not to kill, but to scare her a bit into surrendering the spray)

[Stofsk]

More than likely nobody wanted to tackle her because she had a can of pepper spray and was spraying people with it. Who the fuck wants to deal with that shit? Also there would be a huge level of confusion in all that, people wouldn't know what was going on, who was spraying who, why, was someone attacked or something. And to add to that you've got people on the floor in pain and who knows maybe vomiting is going on and if you get close you'll probably cop a face full of pepper spray too.

Shit like this is just an ugly mess. Why the fuck do people subject themselves to this even leaving aside the pepper spray in this circumstance, which makes it unique anyway. In general you know if you're going to do any shopping on Black Friday or X-mas Eve you're just asking for trouble.

[Gandalf]

Shit like this is just an ugly mess. Why the fuck do people subject themselves to this even leaving aside the pepper spray in this circumstance, which makes it unique anyway. In general you know if you're going to do any shopping on Black Friday or X-mas Eve you're just asking for trouble.

Black Friday allows one to acquire more stuff. More stuff makes you a better person.

[Solauren]

Black Friday allows one to acquire more stuff. More stuff makes you a better person.

If that was true, then collecting miniatures would make people into Deities...

Anyway, back on topic...

I find it telling this individual apparently sprayed CHILDREN as well.

No one in their right mind is going to try to hurt a child just to get a 'bargain' on anything.

Who wants to lay odds that when this female is caught (I will not call her a woman because that implies some humanity), she'll have mental issues or a criminal background?

[Enigma]

She turned herself in. Plus other BF violence elsewhere.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A woman who allegedly fired pepper spray at other customers during a Black Friday sale has surrendered to authorities, Los Angeles police said Saturday.

Police Sgt. Jose Valle said the woman who allegedly caused minor injuries to 20 shoppers at a Los Angeles-area Walmart turned herself in Friday night.

She is currently not in custody but could face battery charges, Valle said. The woman's identity was not released, but police said they plan to release more details Saturday morning.

The attack took place about 10:20 p.m. Thursday shortly after doors opened for the sale. The store had brought out a crate of discounted Xbox video game players, and a crowd had formed to wait for the unwrapping. Valle says the woman began spraying people in order to get an advantage.

The incident was among those nationwide in which violence marred the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season on the Friday after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday.

In the most serious case, a robber shot a shopper who refused to give up his purchases outside a San Leandro, California, Walmart store, leaving the victim hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

Police in San Leandro, about 15 miles (24 kilometres) east of San Francisco, said the victim and his family were walking to their car around 1:45 a.m. Friday when they were confronted by a group of men who demanded their shopping items. When the family refused, a fight broke out, and one of the robbers pulled a gun and shot the man, said Sgt. Mike Sobek.

Meanwhile, police in suburban Phoenix came under fire when a video was posted online showing a 54-year-old grandfather on the floor of a Walmart store with a bloody face, after police said he was subdued Thursday night trying to shoplift during a chaotic rush for discounted video games.

The video, posted on YouTube, shows Jerald Allen Newman unconscious and bloodied as outraged customers yell expletives and say "that's police brutality" and "he wasn't doing anything."

In a police report that redacted the names of officers and witnesses, Newman's wife and other witnesses said he was just trying to help his grandson after the boy was trampled by shoppers, and only put a video game in his waistband to free his hands to help the boy.

Larry Hall, assistant chief of Buckeye police, said Newman was resisting arrest and it appeared the officer acted within reason.

Hall said the officer decided to do a leg sweep and take him to the ground but the man unfortunately hit his head.

"The store was incredibly crowded, and I was concerned about other customers' safety," the officer wrote in his police report.

Hall said Newman, who had a bloody nose and received four stitches on his forehead, was booked on suspicion of shoplifting and resisting arrest.

In Sacramento, California, a man was stabbed outside a mall Friday in an apparent gang-related incident as shoppers were hitting the stores.

The victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

The stabbing stemmed from a fight between two groups around 3 a.m. in front of a Macy's department store at the Arden Fair Mall.

No arrests have been made. Police were hoping surveillance video will help identify the suspects.

Ugh, I hate BF with a passion.

[The Spartan]

Also, isn't that southern part of the US? Where are trigger-happy gunmen with colts when you need them? (not to kill, but to scare her a bit into surrendering the spray)

In a geographic sense perhaps, but The South is from Texas east towards the Atlantic and south of the Mason Dixon line. California is most certainly not part of it.

I'm also reasonably certain that lunatics spraying pepper spray at shoppers is not one of those times it's legally appropriate to draw a concealed handgun. To say nothing of the ethical or safety issues that arise from that.

[Ryan Thunder]

It's always easier to think someone is mentally ill or some kind of monster. That way, it's one of them doing it, not one of us.

It is one of them doing it, not one of us, whoever "them" turns out to be.

So its not a matter of it being easier or harder at all, really.

[Zablorg]

It's always easier to think someone is mentally ill or some kind of monster. That way, it's one of them doing it, not one of us.

It is one of them doing it, not one of us, whoever "them" turns out to be.

So its not a matter of it being easier or harder at all, really.

You've missed the point entirely. People are quick to identify wrong-doers as being some kind of "other": in this case, XIII is referring to the mentally ill. By doing this, able-minded people are able to dissasociate themselves from this kind of behaviour, because who really wants to acknowledge that they are capable of that sort of thing?

So, if she turns out to be someone who is relatively similar to us, it does in fact become harder. I'm sort of struggling with how you haven't got this.