Did artest hit him? Funny, looking at the tapes, I was sure Artest was trying to grab him. There's is a significant deference as far as I'm concerned.
lol whatever, leave out the part where I said "until he got close". I think you are the only one here who thinks the guy clearly made himself a "target" by "actively taunting Artest" because he was "bouncing and acting like a fool". Hell there was a lot of others out there within throwing range doing the same thing, why didn't Artest go after them too.
The guy in the white hat looked more innocent in that regard, as he didn't even budge when Artest was coming at them.....but he's supposedly the guilty party.........at first, it was that reasoning that I did not believe the guy in the white hat had done it, since he didn't flinch at all when Artest was right on him......you never know......... EMJOHN is right, the guy was acting a fool and was obviously taunting and jeering, pointing his finger, etc. He looked much more likely to have been the culprit based on his manerisms. But you can see that Ryan has a drink still in his hand........
i agree, i've been arguing that he only grabbed him as well. i just meant he couldn't randomly hit/attack/grab whatever. wasn't saying he actually hit him.
It's obvious that Artest didn't throw a punch at the first guy. But if you read the news, they say that he threw punches on his way up to the guy, and then proceeded to hit him......bullsheot!
I need to see the clip again, but even if he was jeering and pointing, I don't believe that justifies Artest attacking him. Additionally, even if Artest didn't get a punch off, he still grabbed him and, if I remember correctly, took him down. I'm no lawyer and I probably watch too much Law & Order, but that guy still has a case against Artest and can sue the pants off him can't he?
It doesn't justify it; they're just saying that probably why Artest thought it was him. He's jumping up and down having a good ol' time. Emjohn is right. And I'm telling you....the guy in the white hat even gives Artest a little friendly shove in the 'right direction'.
Once artest grabbed a hold of him, he demanded to know if he threw the cup, the guy pleaded it wasn't him, Artest let him go and was then assaulted by the White hat guy, that is when Artest defended himself. The media and some posters here are getting on my nerves by accusing Artest of punching or hitting ANYONE that was not self-defense. Artest did the least harm to anyone this whole incident. FREE ARTEST.
They know who he is, where he lives and the media has been to his house too. Green's Michigan Dept of Corrections file - Assault with intented bodily harm - Escape from prison - Concealed weapons ...among others emjohn is 100% right - Artest wanted to pin the culprit, not attack him. He never threw a punch until punched from behind by the instigator (white hat) himself. Artest gave him a couple of shots and then very quickly left the stands when he realized how elevated the situation had become... then the clowns on the court came right up to him on the court in a confrontational manner, so he decked him to prevent from being decked himself (IMO - why else run up to him on the court during a melee?). Stephen Jackson threw the first punches and O'Neal landed the hardest blow. In no way am I excusing any of this, but liek when the actual facts are being discussed. There was a time there that people were sharing clips of Ron and Jax beating up a 75 year old usher - which was complete BS, as it was Green (the white hat guy) who is 39.
I donno. Artest ran into the stands, pushes the guys face, then grabs the guys head with his left hand and, what looks like, smashes it onto a chair. (Or at least pulls him down). He then begins to stand over him, while still holding him with his left hand, looks like he is about to throw a punch with his right arm when the guy with the white hat grabs him, along with a bunch of suits to hold him back. He definately didn't let go and it wasn't self defense. At this time Steven(sp?) Jackson runs in and punches a different fan in the head and then the guy with the white hat decides to cheap shot Artest. I still say that the guy that Artest attacked along with the guy that got hit by Steven Jackson can rightfully sue.
Looking at the video frame by frame it is very hard to say if Artest was planning to punch the fan, it seems as if he was retaliating to the fan pulling his left arm. And also I noticed that the Fan with glasses pushed Ron artest away from him making him tumble a little downward, while artest had a grip on him which in turn made the fan go down with him.. Please watch the video in slow motion or frame by frame. After this Tumble happends the camera goes out, and it comes back showing artest fighting off fans who are hitting him This case is very easy to defend and I will be very curious to see how the courts handle this case. FREE ARTEST.
John Green (white cap guy)...CNN just showed him at his house. "The police know where I am." He yelled to reporters. CNN also showed a tape of him throwing the first bottle.
I think chad ford nails everything hits the nail on the head to what i think( i know its ford but i actually agree with him): I'm not defending Artest, but for almost the entire episode on Friday, Artest was a model of restraint – for Artest anyway. After being shoved in the neck and face by Ben Wallace, he resisted the urge to retaliate. The old, out-of-control Artest I've seen in the past would've lost it right there and went toe-to-toe with Wallace. Instead, he retreated to the scorer's table, laid down and waited for the refs to work things out. When Wallace later threw a towel his direction, clearly trying to provoke Artest, he didn't flinch. It wasn't until a cup landed on his chest that Artest lost it. By now you've seen the video a hundred times. Artest bolted off the scorer's table and headed into the stands. Pacers sources claim Artest saw the fan throw the cup. Pistons sources say the tape clearly shows Artest actually got the wrong guy. Artest didn't punch the fan or pummel him into a bloody pulp, as more creative columnists have suggested. He grabbed Ryan, manhandled him and asked him if he did it. The fan, in his own words, corroborates this. "He asked me, 'Did you do it?' " the fan, Mike Ryan of Clarkston, Mich., told the Associated Press. "I said, 'No, man. No!' " And it appears that after a few seconds, Artest let go and moved on to confront a number of other fans that were now taking their own shots at him. That doesn't sound like a guy totally out-of-control. The next time the video gives us a good look at Artest, he's back on the court, trying to make his way to the locker room. Another fan moves onto the court and makes a threatening move toward Artest. Ron throws a haymaker at the guy before backing off. Again, Artest didn't beat him to a pulp. His teammates did that for him. In fact, you can argue what O'Neal and Jackson did was worse. Though each claims they were coming to the defense of their teammate, both were clearly out of control. Jackson was swinging wildly at everyone. O'Neal cold-cocked a guy in the jaw who already was getting off his knees and looking the other way. I don't know how you call what they did "defense." http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&id=1928698
What about people with alleged multitudes of alcohol related offenses who throw cups of alcohol, and THEN grabs someone from behind and attempt to start punching him? John Green seems like a slimeball to me.
Chad Ford definetly got that one 100% right. The instigator (who threw the first cup) has a past with the law. He even escaped from Prison once!
Sorry if this has been answered but is their any info on the fat black guy (in gray) who was hitting jones?
