...to escalate to physical violence?
If they're threatening me with physical violence and I attack them first, am I legally protected?
If we're arguing and they come into arms length distance and I feel "threatened" so I attack first, am I legally protected?
If someone calls me a n*gger from 20 feet away and I run over and smash him, is that justified or am I going to jail?
I know this can be a gray area I'm just looking for educated opinions. Thanks in advance.
The law of equals in self- defense. Your reaction needs to be justifiable. The answers to your questions are all risk and circumstance dependent.
If you truly feel threatened with violence and you have a reasonable belief that the person will follow through with their attack or feel that you are in imminent danger as in life or death situation - you have a right to protect yourself. But don't overact. There' s 2 types of force - Regular (preventing someone from attacking you) or Deadly (react to save your life if someone is threatening to take yours). But also keep in mind that if you feel threatened and leave the scene, but come back to track that person down (after a cool down period) or wait a few days as a revenge tactic; that's where you're getting into shaky territory for sure.
If you're arguing with a person close up and they approach you without physical contact, the judge may say that you could have removed yourself from the exchange or had time to walk away. Need to think if the situation merits you potentially risking getting arrested or imprisonment on a petty beef. But if you truly feel like someone is being deliberate - then you have to make that call. At the end of the day - hard to predict what the outcome will be at trial bc most judges look at all the facts and evidence leading up to the incident (at least they're supposed to). And good defense attorney will build their defense on the agitator of the situation.
There's a code with a white person calling you a n-er, getting locked up is the last thing on my mind, just saying, they can die where they stand at. But that's just me
