Sorry Cap'n,
Didn't finish.
The hypothetical case that you gave bears no relation whatever to the one I have given - the violence came entirely from the farmer.
In your imagined case - unless you could prove self-defence, if you killed the intruder you would have been guilty of murder - that is the law. Things appear to be different in the US but here killing is a crime - that is the way it should be.
Last year an unarmed young Traveller lad was stabbed to death by a knife-wielding young man - it will be interesting to see when the case comes to trial whether that fact that the alleged killer, who is at present out on bail, is a policeman's son.
Two years ago in this town a small group of Travellers came to one of the local hotels to attend a wedding - no trouble; they just kept themselves to themselves. The sergeant visited all the local bars and ordered them to close until they had left town.
Travellers don't even have to commit crimes to be treated differently; it appears to be a crime to be a Traveller.
Anybody who has had anything to do with Travellers knows they are treated differently.
Jim Carroll