A student group at Cornell University claims university president Michael Kotlikoff “hit us with his car” after a debate over Israel. Students for a Democratic Cornell call the incident a “violent response to student inquiry.”
It’s quite the story: The University refuses to allow open debate about Israel, and resorts to violence to silence dissent!
AMERICA’S LEFT-WING POLITICAL VIOLENCE PROBLEM CANNOT BE MET WITH DENIAL
But video released by Cornell shows a different story: Students tried to stop Kotlikoff from leaving, and he tried, as slowly as possible, to exit.
Because he was in a car, that slow retreat was inherently dangerous to those trying to detain him, but Kotlikoff was still totally in the right.
There’s a legal principle in self-defense called the “duty to retreat.” If someone is 100 feet away from me and shouts, “I’m going to stab you,” I still probably shouldn’t shoot him. I should try to get away instead. In New York State, where Cornell is, that duty to retreat is actually written into law.
Notably, Kotlikoff was literally trying to retreat. The anti-Israel activists were following him, and he was trying to go home. They attempted to stop his departure by blocking his car. First, they stood behind his car as he was trying to reverse. (There was a brick wall in front of him.) Then one student jumped in front of the car when Kotlikoff was trying to pull forward.
Never did Kotlikoff drive fast. At all times, he drove excruciatingly slow. Did he bump one of the activists or run over a foot? Maybe. That’s a risk that comes with operating an automobile. It’s a risk that is justified in this case.
When someone is physically blocking your retreat, you are right to consider yourself at risk. (Men of a certain age very clearly remember Reginald Denny, who was surrounded by protesters and beaten nearly to death.)
TEACH YOUNG PEOPLE THE GRAMMAR OF SELF-GOVERNANCE
When your life and limb are at risk, you are justified in using force that would normally be unjustified. Likewise, you are justified in taking actions that, while not violent, run the risk of injuring the folks who detain you, such as trying to navigate your car to safety.
Stopping cars is an increasingly popular protest tactic on the Left. Nobody should run someone over just because that person is intentionally delaying them. But at some point, delaying a person becomes detaining a person. Then the rules change.