Neither of those things happened according to our current, best knowledge, or at the time of the statements.
At best, we can say a third-party did the threatening beforehand. A third-party that was neither Minsky or Stallman.
To clarify further, assault does not mean... "ooh, I did something bad and failed to verify something I'm required to, but didn't want to, because reasons…". Expanding the definition of assault to include any poor behavior under the sun (in order to score virtue/outrage points) does not help anyone.
IANAL, and until we know more, I'd say a more accurate term for Minsk's misdeeds would be statutory-rape and perhaps "negligence."
You're making the exact same argument the RMS made, using the same logical construction that I laid down as being the argument RMS made, while arguing that I do not understand RMS's point.
I understood his point. I understood your point. I find the point to be pedantic.
You're not the only one here? And pedantry is rather immaterial in the long run.
Stallman certainly fits the bill, but when it is time to render a judgement we all need to focus on the details. We need to render a judgement on what actually happened, not what quick-to-outrage folks imagined happened. Details matter here.
A few people appear to believe that when something very bad happens we need to expand culpability to include everyone in the neighborhood who's not sufficiently condemning. I hope it is a minority viewpoint.
The dictionary definition of assault is "a violent attack, or threat of..." https://www.dictionary.com/browse/assault
Neither of those things happened according to our current, best knowledge, or at the time of the statements.
At best, we can say a third-party did the threatening beforehand. A third-party that was neither Minsky or Stallman.
To clarify further, assault does not mean... "ooh, I did something bad and failed to verify something I'm required to, but didn't want to, because reasons…". Expanding the definition of assault to include any poor behavior under the sun (in order to score virtue/outrage points) does not help anyone.
IANAL, and until we know more, I'd say a more accurate term for Minsk's misdeeds would be statutory-rape and perhaps "negligence."