An activist who claimed that a woman who defended herself against an armed robber should have let herself be robbed has apologized.
Zack Ford, a writer for the radical Think Progress blog, made the argument for why he thought the woman shouldn’t have shot the man who tried to rob her on Twitter on Jan. 14, triggering an avalanche of negative reactions.
The woman in question, 25, was approached by an armed 19-year-old man at a bus stop in Chicago. The woman, who has a concealed carry license, brought out her firearm and shot him dead.
“Conservatives are thrilled a woman with a concealed-carry permit shot and killed a 19-year-old would-be mugger. That’s not how justice works. The penalty for theft is not death, nor do we want it to be,” Ford wrote.
The post reached a vaunted ratio, a term referring to highly controversial posts that receive many more comments than “likes” or “retweets” (shares).
Slammed by criticism from many, Ford doubled down.
“The kid was 19! I just feel like we’re being way too disposable with his life. A gun death is a gun death, and the fact she was able to protect herself in no way motivates me to change my belief that she should not have had a gun in the first place,” he said in another post, replying to a critic.
He also made the claim, without evidence, that both the robber and the woman “likely would have survived … if she had let him rob her, even at gunpoint.”
People reacting to the post noted that it seemed idealistic and the woman had every right to defend herself when confronted by an armed robber.
After hours of arguing his case, Ford finally deleted the posts and offered “apologies and clarifications” about “the poorly worded tweet.”
THREAD: I want to offer both some apologies and clarifications about a poorly-worded tweet I sent about an incident of gun violence. I have since deleted the tweet.
— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) January 15, 2019
“First, I believe people have the right to defend themselves. My tweet suggested otherwise, and for that I apologize,” Ford said. “My tweet also ignored the context that this took place in a neighborhood with high rates of violence. That’s an experience I don’t have and shouldn’t speak to. For that I also apologize.”
Ford continued, “My tweet suggested that conservative outlets covering this story were happy about a death. That was not my intention, and I apologize.”
A staunch anti-gun activist, Ford said his “ideal is for a world in which guns do not have to be a part of anyone’s daily life and in which gun deaths are not a part of our daily news.”
“I stand by this ideal and disagree with the proposition that more guns will make people safer,” he said. “I’m going to try to be more sensitive in my advocacy in the future. For now, I stand humbled by my mistake and simply ask that others will continue to work with me in good faith to end gun violence for all people.”
People had varying reactions to the apology.
Actually, sir, that was amazingly mature and honorable of you. My respect for you just skyrocketed. I would also love a world where bad people didn’t victimize the weak. Until then, we have to defend ourselves. Today, I salute you.
— James Varner (@jgvarner57) January 15, 2019
“But Zack, a gun just DID make the world safer. And you can’t even concede that that’s why this woman’s life was saved. That’s why conservatives are happy. Because the good person beat the evil person. And it’s because she had a weapon of self-defense,” said one Twitter user.
“That’s a worthy goal, but largely incompatible with the idea that people are entitled to defend themselves against violence,” added another.
“That was amazingly mature and honorable of you. My respect for you just skyrocketed. I would also love a world where bad people didn’t victimize the weak. Until then, we have to defend ourselves. Today, I salute you,” said another user.
“Glad you reconsidered this and I think you’ve shown good character in this public apology,” said another.
