A 25-year-old woman in Chicago defended herself against an armed attacker with her own legally concealed weapon. But according to Think Progress’ LGBTQ Editor Zack Ford, “That’s not how justice works.”
Police say the woman was approached by a 19-year-old man with a gun at a bus stop on Tuesday morning. After a struggle on the ground, the woman pulled her own gun on the man and fatally shot him in the neck.
Yet, Ford’s sympathy lies not with the victim of the attack, but with the assailant who he labels a “would-be mugger.” Ford’s logic concludes that a woman must first determine the motives of her attacker before she has the right to defend herself.
“The penalty for theft is not death, nor do we want it to be,” Ford tweeted. But this man was not killed for theft. He was killed for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Only one person broke the law in this altercation, and it was not the female victim. It seems Ford is actually less interested in justice and more interested in shaming women who choose to legally defend themselves with firearms.
It should also be noted that this is not the first time Ford has taken a stand against female victims. Think Progress actively supports policies forcing women to share public bathrooms and showers with men, who for all we know are “would-be muggers” and “would-be rapists.”
UPDATE: Ford has since deleted the tweet and written a thread apologizing.