A man slapped a woman so hard her eyeball popped out.

[DetlefK]

http://www.theroot.com/viral-video-shows-black-man-slapping-white-woman-for-ca-1795433269

A viral YouTube clip has sparked furious debate for appearing to show a black man slapping a woman’s eyeball out of her head for repeatedly calling him the n-word.

The 55-second clip opens with a black man and a white woman already engaged in a heated argument. “Don’t put your hand in my face; that’s all I’m trying to tell you,” the man warns the woman while apparently engaged in a conversation on his cellphone.

“They said to me, ‘Mrs. Kelly, you’re not allowed to touch no one,’” the woman interrupts, as other passengers look on. After the man chastises her for “all the other shit you was talking on that bus,” the woman interjects again, telling him, “I don’t care, nigger!”

...

The unnamed male dares her to say the word again, and the woman, either out of racism or the kindness of her benevolent heart, informs the gentleman, “You’re missing your stop, nigger.” She then breaks into evil laughter reminiscent of a villain in a James Bond film, while the guy begs the driver to open the door.

Through her laughter, the woman—again, as decorum and manners dictate—bids her eventual assaulter adieu, yelling “Goodbye, nigger” in between her deep chortles.

As the vehicle slows to a stop, the man reaches over toward the still-laughing woman and slaps her before exiting the bus. The stunned woman holds her face and asks the driver to call the police. While holding something in her hand, she laments, “He knocked my eyeball out.”

[Gravitycollapse]

1. If speech is a potential form of violence, then slapping someone is self-defense.

I don't generally argue that but this is one of those circumstances where the words said were particularly horrific.

[Skittles]

2. just curious but

would this be true if the woman was mentally ill?

[Gravitycollapse]

23. I would depend on the specific circumstance.

Mental illness is often used as a catchall to a lot of different conditions, some of which deeply impact perception and cognition, while others do not.

[Skittles]

33. so we all get to play psychiatrist

ridiculous

he should not have hit her, end of story

[Codeine]

4. That's ridiculous. Speech is not violence. nt

[Volstagg]

19. Well, Chaplinsky is still in play

and that talks about words that "...by their very utterance inflict injury...."

[hardluck]

32. how is Chaplinsky relevant?

Chaplinsky provides that certain words, "fighting words," are not protected speech under the First Amendment. Thus, if the state were to arrest you for disorderly conduct/breach of the peace, for uttering "fighting words," it would not be a First Amendment violation.

The fighting words doctrine does not provide a justification for assault or battery, nor does it provide a basis for a self-defense claim. Self defense typically requires a finding that: 1) The defendant reasonably believed that (he/she or someone else) was in imminent danger of suffering bodily injury; 2) The defendant reasonably believed that the immediate use of force was necessary to defend against that danger; and 3) The defendant used no more force than was reasonably necessary to defend against that danger. Words alone, without the imminent threat of bodily injury, are not sufficient for self-defense.

Finally, I'm not sure how much stock I'd put in the fighting words doctrine anyway; it's been narrowly construed by the Supreme Court since Chaplinsky. I mean if "White son of a bitch, I’ll kill you,” and “You son of a bitch, I’ll choke you to death” are not fighting words, I'm not sure what meets the threshold. See Gooding v. Wilson, 405 U.S. 518, 519 n.1 (1972).

[Gravitycollapse]

24. Yes, speech can be violent.

[Blue_Warrior]

17. The woman is horrible.

But to suggest speech is violence? My god... how low have we fallen?

[Volstagg]

20. See my Chaplinsky response above.

"...the insulting or 'fighting words' those that by their very utterance inflict injury...."

[Gravitycollapse]

27. Physical violence is abhorred because of it's extreme consequences.

The violation of bodily autonomy, physical injury, psychic trauma, etc.

All but the physical injury can be experienced with violent speech. This is why speech can be just as injurious as physical violence.

There are plenty of utilizations of speech that are more horrific than a slap or punch.

[get the red out]

3. I wish he had just recorded her

And put it on Facebook.

[luvMIdog]

5. geez- where do you go with this one? Violence never ok. Evil woman was just asking for it though

but yeah.. what if she did have mental problems? She does look shy of a few marbles doing that. I think certain things said by people are 'verbal assault'. What about a guy calling a woman the C word in public. I had that happen to me when I bartended. He came on to me and I told him to get his hands off me and he called me a C**t. Had I hit him for it then it would have been me assaulting a customer. I always taught my son walk away walk away walk away.

[Throck]

6. People need to grow thicker skins.

And practice the tolerance they expect to receive. Learn not to escalate stupid shit.

[DetlefK]

7. So, when he asks her to stop, and she escalates by harassing him even more...

Please answer me this: If he had walked away, what redress would he have gotten for being disrespected, taunted and insulted?

[Throck]

9. You just reinforced my point.

When you ignore bullies you steal their power. Peace is a powerful tool.

[DetlefK]

10. Oh, I bet that would really have disencouraged her from calling people "nigger" ever again.

If he had walked away peacefully after she had insulted him and laughed into his face, that would have shocked her so hard...

[Adrahil]

11. Yeah, didn't work for me.

When I ignored a bully in high school, I got my nose broken for my pains.

[tazkcmo]

29. Sorry, I disagree

About bullies being ignored. Bullies need to be confronted and suffer real consequences for their actions. Ignoring them does nothing to discourage their behavior and so they continue to bully. As for the slapping of the woman I'll agree that violence isn't the answer. I'm not going to criticize this man for losing control but he can be held accountable for his reaction in a court of law.

[GulfCoast66]

16. I hope he feels vindicated hitting her while

Sitting in his jail cell and the prison he will end up in.

And which he deserves.

Had he filmed it and posted it on Facebook he could have caused he to lose he job and he would have been lauded.

Now he is a criminal.

[Warpy]

30. Yeah, she was showing the world who and what SHE was, not telling them anything about that man

It's why I don't answer obvious trolls online, either. Unpleasant asses aren't telling me anything about myself, but they're telling the whole world who they are.

Being disrespected by some lunatic might be unpleasant, but it isn't fatal. He pointed out what a raving bigot she was, that was sufficient. Assault will put him in jail.

However, I can think of only two ways a slap could enucleate someone: Graves disease or a prosthetic eye. Untreated Graves might be part of what made her so crazy.

[Orsino]

14. This is also 400 years of chickens coming home to roost.

Which the woman took advantage of. Male violence against women has a much longer history, but it seems fairly clear which one of them went looking for trouble that day.

[JoeStuckInOH]

8. Ask yourself this, "if it were two men, how would you honestly feel about the altercation?" ...

If it were two men, how would you honestly feel about the altercation? Especially knowing that the person who was eventually struck continually tried to escalate the situation using nasty racial slurs while the other person apparently tried to deescalate before giving in to the taunts.

Does your answer or opinion of the altercation change based on the sex of either party?

[Skittles]

34. does not change my opinion

record and put on youtube, or just walk away

[Calista241]

12. No matter what was said, that's assault.

A violent crime, and he should go to jail.

[Ms. Toad]

13. From her relative calm,

I'm guessing it was a false eye. Or it was staged as an inflammatory fake video.

If it was her actual eye, she'd be screaming bloody murder.

If it is a real incident, words are never an excuse for violence regarless of how vile they are.

[kcr]

15. Fake (edit)

Just want to clarify. I'm basing this on the headline because eyeballs don't just pop out and fall into your hand because of a slap or a punch, like a cartoon. But calling someone the n-word is violent harassment, so if it had been possible? I would have been in the she-had-it-coming camp.

[Iggo]

18. Two horrible people. (n/t)

[Jersey Devil]

21. Why post obviously fake news?

Detatched retina from a slap, sure, but eyeball popping out? That only happens to Wiley Coyote.

[Blue_Warrior]

22. Glass eye

[Stuart G]

25. Yelling "Fire" in a crowded movie theater is not protected speech.

Neither are threats or certain other kinds of speech. The Supreme court has ruled that certain kinds of speech are not protected by the 1st Amendment.


Weather or not the video is real or fake is another question entirely.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. Somehow I find it hard to believe that

he really slapped an eyeball out. Maybe a contact lens, but an eyeball? Are they really THAT loosely attached?

[Skittles]

35. yes, if they are made of glass

my brother has had a glass eye since he was 4 so I know

[Scoopster]

28. I used to work with someone with a glass eye

It is really easy to pop the thing out. One time he was under his desk at the office, knocked his head on the underside and it popped out just from that.

Saw a lotta people here saying 'how is that even possible' and thought I should speak up.

She deserves whatever she brought on herself, but I won't commend the guy for resorting to violence even if it was something relatively minor.

[struggle4progress]

31. Who? Dunno. Where? Dunno. When? Dunno

Just another video on youtube