You explicitly stated your right to question private citizens in public places.
I certainly did. That's quite distinct from what you imputed to me, however. Are you suggesting that it would be a crime for me to ask someone a question? Are you suggesting that violence, or the non-verbal imminent threat thereof, would be a lawful response to my asking a question? It isn't.
I am suggesting that most reasonable people would tell you to "FUGG OFF. What I do is none of your business. Get out of my face!"
And that if you do anything other than turn and move along, the most reasonable of persons will become irritated with you and will commence to move you along.
Nope. Not lawful to "move someone along" in a public space for asking a question. You can ignore that person, or tell them to buzz off, but if it's a public space, both people have a right to be there. If you're annoyed by my question, you have a lawful right to leave, stay and ignore me, or converse with me, but you have no right to respond with violence or threat's if imminent violence, either verbally or non-verbally.
Legal response or not, it is the inevitable outcome. And only a fool would fail to recognize the consequences of harassing folks in public places.
And really, what do you think the Cop is going to say when you call and complain about your bloody nose and bruised ego, and the other guy tells him "Hey, I told the jackass to get lost a dozen times. I told him to leave me alone. I told him to get out of my face. But he just kept pestering me. He did not seem to be rational. I was in fear for my safety and the safety of my 13 year old daughter."
The cops around here would ask you, "Have you learned you lesson? Are you going to go home and leave people alone now?"
Heck, they might even arrest you for "Loitering" or possibly "Vagrancy". That used to be a big one around here. If the cops did not like the looks of a guy, they would toss him in the joint overnight as a vagrant.
