> John never wrote that he "threatened to shoot someone". All he
> wrote is: "my hand in my pocket", "tell the clerk to give me
> the till".
Maybe you've never worked retail. That's a violent threat out of Violent Threats 101.
# "Only an asshole gets killed for a car" # -- Repo Man
> It is entirely valid for you to assume that the threat is that
> you will get shot, just because he has his hands in his pocket?
Ravi, you've seen TV, right? This is the classic way of threatening someone in a liquor store. Your point is valid: the question that has to be answered is whether the person believed there was a threat. But in the scenario John gave, if it were caught on tape, that dude is going to end up in the "violent crime" statistic.
> What about a 300 pound man walking up to a 100
> pound man and asking for money?
Asking? Or giving the idea that there were consequences if not? This is well-worn territory, especially in the world of "self-defense" claims: physical intimidation counts.
C'mon, this is a silly thread. John was trying to somehow dumb-down the violent crime statistic by saying "Well, are they _really_ violent?" and the answer is a resounding: yes.
/jordan