Once again the actual intent doesn’t matter because that was only known to them. The only people who knew if they actually had weapons or not were them and you’re going to fault people for believing them when they said they did. They were threatening another persons life (once again no one knew they were faking it except them) that is the only thing that maters in this situation.

They knowingly made the marshal believe they had weapons, was the marshal just supposed to let themself get shot? There are a lot of things to criticize US police for, but protecting themselves when there is a clear, deliberate, and imminent threat on their lives is not one of them.

Yes it’s sad that a troubled kid with an underdeveloped brain made a stupid decision and was killed for it. But that doesn’t make it ok to victim blame someone for defending themself from a threat upon their life.

Courts tend to disagree with you. Even if a weapon is simulated, if used as a threat, it’s often considered the same as actually having the weapon, because the victim is threatened just the same.

https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1351-assaultuse-dangerous-weapon-during-bank-robbery

If I poke you in your back with a stick and say “do exactly as I say and you might, just might, live through this”

Are you seriously going to:

• go “nah bro, I don’t believe you, go home, you’re drunk” or
• are you going to take me very fucking seriously and not only comply but also try to think really hard and fast about getting out of dodge using any (and I do mean any) means necessary because you reasonably assume I have a loaded gun pressed against your back?

If you answer the first option, then we stop now, as you’re clearly being dishonest.