Today I saw another replay of the incident, and I noticed something I'd missed the first time... the fan that came onto the court that Artest (and later O'Neal) punched was clearly trying to hit Artest. He even drew his fist back, but Ron was too quick for him.
That was self-defense. Attacking the wrong guy in the stands was inexcusable, though, and considering past history I'm now in favor of a 20+ game suspension.
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