My bf permanently brain damaged someone and didn’t go to jail

When my bf was in high school (about 16) he was friends with a Mexican guy, we’ll call him J). One day after school they were walking home and a neo Nazi freak ran up and hit J in the head with a brick, knocking him out then started punching him while he was on the ground. My bf picked up the brick and smashed it over the back of the neo nazi’s head, knocking him unconscious. He called an ambulance and police and my bf was taken into custody and the others to the hospital. J woke up and had about 35 stitches on his head, but the neo Nazi guy was in a coma for a couple months because the brick apparently hit him in just the right spot it caused permanent damage. The family of the Nazi took my bf to court and tried to press charges on him, but J’s parents were both personal injury attorneys and were able to plead his case and he was let go with no charges. J still comes over from time to time for dinners about 15 years later.

Just wanted to share a weird story from my bf’s past that I still think about and how, while I don’t condone violence, he is a hero in my mind.