[artichokegrower]

The thief told the clerks to back off as he had a gun. At that time any type of force including deadly would be appropriate.

[Mr. N. Wolfe]

The thief brandished a knife during the incident.

[SaveFerris]

Thieves are now welcome to take everything they want from the Modesto Bee.

Open your doors, Modesto Bee.

🎵🎶🎶Let ‘em in.....doo doo doo doo🎵🎶🎶

(Wings)

[TornadoAlley3]

The Editorial Board does not read The Crime section of their own newspaper.

[MtnClimber]

There are problems with this encounter. And maybe the local politicians are right. The store owners were wrong to beat the shoplifter. I know it is easy to espouse after the fact and all of that. But, if the store owners had used a shotgun it would have TOTALLY eliminated repeat crimes.

[chopperk]

Self defense is indeed the only answer. Come into my shop and steal and baseball bat justice will be applied immediately.

[blackdog]

Let the members of the editorial board writing this article find such a thief inside their home robbing them of security of their persons and posessions......

"They have insurance", right?

[Polynikes]

TPTB routinely investigate situations like this. They inherently object to any commoner who in their minds challenge the monopoly on use of force that they claim as their exclusive right.

Well the barn door is open and the horse has escaped. Too little to late. People only accept the enforced anarchy so long. The exclusive right to use force is long gone. Welcome to Thunderdome.

[CFW]

I would not have minded if they had gone a bit further. Anyone who watched the video could see the thug thought he was entitled to everything the store owner possessed. Including possibly his life. He kept reaching for his back pocket and I thought at one point I saw a gun. He told him he had one so the clerks had reason to fear for their lives.

[DiogenesLamp]

Although brazen stealing is frustrating, costly and dangerous to store employees, confronting it with violence that far exceeds self-defense is not the answer.

It is *EXACTLY* the answer.

People are sick of the law protecting criminals from the public, and now the public is starting to do something about it.

[TangoLimaSierra]

If the law has abrogated their duty, then the law should FO and leave the citizens to fix the problem.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

MODESTO BEE EDITORIAL BOARD loves to stand up for the criminal elements in society.

[ArcadeQuarters]

They didn’t go too far. They allowed him to live.

[HamiltonJay]

Yes he absolutely told them
He was armed no way I’m letting the little turn up if I go the jump on him.

[No name given]

That’s right.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Although brazen stealing is frustrating, costly and dangerous to store employees, confronting it with violence that far exceeds self-defense is not the answer.

Completely and totally the answer.

There was some lowlife in the UK who would go into people's homes and scare them for fun and "clicks". When asked why he said that no one would stop him and so it was ok. If it was wrong they would beat him. By their not beating him it meant they were weak, he was strong and it was ok for the strong to abuse the weak.

Let the beatings begin.

[OKSooner]

Sorry. Just as you said, if he says he’s got a gun that’s the point at which he’s paid for. It ought to be simple.

[pas]

He kept reaching into his back pocket. He also challenged them that they could not do anything about it. What else could they do but show him they could.

[BitWielder1]

If the police, courts, DA's, mayors and legislators did their jobs, thieves would not be this brazen.
Leftists blames crime on "disenfranchisement", but it's hard working shop owners who are disenfranchised, robbed of their livelihood and they get no protection, no representation.
Pushing back like this is the only answer left now.
There will be more coming because politicians made it necessary.

[I want the USA back]

With all due disrespect, the Bee is wrong. The shopkeepers did the right thing and should have done more. Since the “law” does nothing, the citizens had the right to protect their lives and property.

The politicians want more of this kind of theft. It’s a down payment on the plan to turn over all the legitimate assets of this country to lazy, worthless, criminal slobs who blame all their failures on the hard-working productive people.

[Noumenon]

How else dey gon' gets dey smokes?

That was the most disgusting, craven editorial I have ever seen. It is fully emblematic of the problem. Dox the editorialists so thwt Tyrone and D'Quavious can come and help themselves.