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XPost: alt.politics.democrats, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh

A FedEx delivery driver who punched a man who shouted racial slurs at
him will not face criminal charges after the man later died, officials announced.

Timothy Warren was driving his truck through a Portland, Oregon,
neighbourhood when Joseph Magnuson began to shout at him to tell him
that he was going too fast.

Mr Warren stopped his truck and tried to explain to Mr Magnuson that
he was exhausted and just wanted to finish his work.

But Mr Magunson did not stop shouting and began hurling racist insults
at him.

Mr Warren, who is black, stepped out of the truck and both men shouted
at one another.

Mr Magnuson went to punch Mr Warren, who then punched back and hit Mr Magnuson's left eye.

The 55-year-old man then fell to the ground and briefly lost
consciousness. He died later that evening.

Prosecutors have decided not to charge Mr Warren with a crime.

He did not intend to kill Mr Magnuson and acted in self-defence during
the incident on 26 September, the Multnomah County District Attorney's
Office said in a memo.

Mr Magnuson's death from the fall was precipitated by “extremely poor
health,” a medical examiner concluded and the punch itself was not
fatal, Senior Deputy District Attorney Adam Gibbs wrote.

Mr Warren was within his legal right to challenge Mr Magnuson's
“racist vitriol,” Mr Gibbs noted. He said Warren's decision to
confront Mr Magnuson - rather than ignore him - was not legally
significant.

Oregon law does not carry a “duty to retreat” provision that would
have required Warren to reasonably remove himself from danger, Mr
Gibbs wrote.

Prosecutors and police pieced together events using accounts from six eyewitnesses, three of whom saw the entire incident. They all
maintained that Mr Warren had driven at an acceptable speed and that
Mr Magnuson started the incident, and then escalated it.

“Mr Magnuson's actions, as reported by all three witnesses and Mr
Warren, gave rise to a reasonable belief on Mr Warren's part that a
limited use of force was necessary to prevent injury to himself,” Mr
Gibbs wrote.

Mr Magnuson was living in a van near the park where the deadly
encounter occurred, district attorney spokesman Brent Weisberg told
The Washington Post.

Mr Warren, whose age wasn't released, could not be reached for
comment.

The announcement by the prosecutor's office was the first public
mention of Mr Magnuson's death and the ensuing investigation, the
Oregonian newspaper reported. It was unclear why prosecutors had only
recently released information about the incident.

It is also unclear whether Mr Warren still works for FedEx. The
company declined to comment on his status.

The company, which said it cooperated fully during the investigation,
extends “condolences to those affected”, FedEx Ground spokeswoman
Nikki Mendicino said in a statement.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fedex-driver-delivery-punched-man-racist-abuse-slurs-criminal-charges-latest-a8647141.html

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