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No. Reeves did not initiate the violent confrontation. He asked the man to stop using his cell phone. He then reported the man's disruption to the theater management and returned to his seat. All of these actions were legal and proper. Any ranting by Chad would have confirmed he was a total ass, but would not have been considered a threat against Reeves (unless Chad verbally threatened he would get up and attack Reeves).

First, per witness statements, Reeves didn't 'ask' Oulson. He leaned over and 'ordered' him to stop using his cell phone.

Not 5 minutes before this happened, Reeves, himself, was using his own cell phone to text Reeves' son to inform the son where Reeves' and his wife were sitting in the theater. (do as I say, not as I do -- typical cop attitude)

Second, after Reeves left the theater in an attempt to get Oulson to stop using his cell phone, Reeves re-engaged Oulson which escalated the situation.

Legal? Maybe. Proper? I don't think so and neither did the arresting officer, the DA nor the judge who ordered Reeves to stand trial, rejecting Reeves attempt to use Florida's Stand Your Ground as a defense.

Had Oulson been the initiator, a Stand Your Ground defense could have been used. Since Reeves was the initiator and the one who escalated the situation, he was in the wrong and will be standing trial for second-degree murder.

Witness: Wife chided Reeves after theater shooting and he told her to shut her mouth:

Sumter County sheriff's Sgt. Alan Hamilton was there the day Curtis Reeves shot a man to death after a dispute in a movie theater over an illuminated cellphone screen.

Hamilton saw a burst of popcorn and a muzzle blast, he said.

He didn't see everything, he admitted. But he heard things. And some of those things conflict with Reeves' own testimony about what was said in the aftermath of the shooting at the Cobb Grove 16 theaters in 2014.

Hamilton's account also does not support Reeves' testimony in his ongoing "stand your ground" hearing that Chad Oulson, 43, was climbing over the back of his seat when Reeves, 74, fired a gun.

Hamilton testified Wednesday as a prosecution witness. State lawyers are fighting Reeves' effort to avoid a trial on murder and aggravated battery charges by saying he was in fear for his life.

Hamilton said he overheard an exchange between Reeves and his wife, Vivian.

"He pointed his finger at her and told her to shut her mouth and to not say another f- - - - - - word," Hamilton testified.

Reeves' comment, according to Hamilton, had followed an admonition by the wife.

"That was no cause to shoot that man," Hamilton said he heard Vivian Reeves say.

In testimony during the defense portion of the two-week hearing, Reeves' wife had denied the statements attributed to her and her husband.

"I said, 'What happened, you can't shoot into a theater full of people,' or something like that," she recalled.

...

Hamilton, who was off duty when the shooting occurred, had been sitting with his wife in the back row of the theater, the same row as Reeves.

He recalled walking over to Reeves after the shooting and hearing him say, "I can't believe what I've just f- - - - - - done."

Florida Judge Rejects 'Stand Your Ground' Defense in Movie Theater Shooting:

A retired police captain who shot and killed a man in a movie theater will stand trial for second-degree murder after a judge ruled that Florida's "stand your ground" law is not applicable in this case. Following two weeks of pre-trial testimony, Judge Susan Barthle ruled against Curtis Reeves' claims that he used his gun in self-defense when he fired his weapon, CNN reports.

"Because the defendant's testimony was significantly at odds with the physical evidence and other witness testimony, this court has considerable doubts about his credibility, and is not willing to come to the conclusion that these circumstances are those envisioned by the Legislature when the 'stand your ground' law was enacted," Barthle said, according to CNN.