Aug 102015
Idiots clearly in need of something to do with their free time thought it’d be a good lark to shut down interstate 70 in Earth City, MO, in commemoration of the suicide-by-cop of Mike Brown a year ago. They linked arms across the highway and brought traffic to a standstill.
You know what isn’t stopped by a bunch of doofy Social Justice Warriors holding hands? An SUV.
It seems to me that the protesters are attempting to hold people against their will… unlawful arrest or outright kidnapping for political purposes. Which would make this an act of terrorism. Would *any* court in the land convict someone who used deadly force to escape from an illegal kidnapping?
- Detention. Unlawful restraint always involves some sort of intentional detention. You cannot commit unlawful restraint by accident, and you must intend for your actions to result in confining someone else. However, there is no requirement that the victim is physically placed in a cell, secure building, or other confined area. It’s enough that victims believe they are restrained from taking action or leaving an area. The detention can result from verbal orders, lies, or physical restraint. Violence or the threat of violence may also be involved. If only threatened force is used to confine a victim, the victim must have a reasonable apprehension or fear of the threatened force.
- Unlawful. You cannot unlawfully restrain someone if you have the legal authority to confine the person. However, it is up to a court to determine lawfulness. So, if you restrain someone believing that you had the legal authority to do so, and a court later determines you did not have that authority, you can be convicted of unlawful restraint.
- Time. There is no minimum time requirement involved in unlawful restraint. If a victim is confined even for a few moments, this is enough to qualify as an unlawful restraint.