My Brother In Law Pushed Me Aggressively During An Argument.

Location: Florida

I (24F) was living with my in laws while our house is being renovated. For context, I don’t get along with my in laws due to the fact that my husband preferred to spend more time with me than his family when we first started dating and they think I don’t care about my son with special needs. Which is absolutely not true. I fought hard, since he was 4 months old, to get his official diagnosis. I picked up on all the signs quickly while they assumed it was just him being a “slow learner” and that “God will help him”. He’s 3 years old now and got diagnosed in the summer of this year.

Anyways, my husband was in a separate room sleeping (he works graveyard shifts) and I had just woken up. My little brother (who I was babysitting for the weekend) came into my room to wake me up and let me know that my son was awake. They sleep together when I babysit my brother so it’s nothing new. After I came in, I sat there for a few minutes in my son’s bed, trying to gather myself for the day. My MIL came in and told me my son was hungry. I said “Okay, let me go use the restroom first.” After a few minutes, I came out, she had already made him his breakfast. Fine, whatever. She sat him down and gave him his food.

After 10 minutes, my BIL (21M) came into the room and told me my son had a syringe in his mouth. (I’m a diabetic) Luckily the cap was on and I know I fucked up by leaving the syringe there the night prior. I responded with “Okay. Thanks for telling me. But, was your dad not right there eating with him? I thought he would’ve seen it.” I’m not sure if I said something wrong or if I triggered him but he responded in a rude tone, “You’re the mom, aren’t you? Be a mom.”

Now I tried being the better person and contain myself. I responded with “Okay, but what does that matter? I’m just asking if your dad was there watching him. I was just curious, you don’t have to get mad.” And for some reason, this set him off more. He started yelling at me saying “He has Autism!! Get up and be a mom!! All you care about is him (my little brother)!!” I got up and went up to him to speak to him. I literally sat there telling him to calm down and there was no need to get aggressive and hostile. At this point he was being a bit insane. His mother came out and said I should be watching the kids and not worry about my BIL. I replied with “Your son came up to ME in an aggressive manner. I sat there trying to be calm and talk about it. Put him in check instead of worrying about me.”

He decided to get very personal about my looks and say nasty things like I’m a terrible mother, a disgusting bitch, I should kms, and the kids would be better off without me. I sat there and let him do his mouthing off. When he was done, I replied with “It’s okay if you think i’m gross. That’s fine. But, at least I don’t have lower the bar so low and find a girlfriend that is underage.” After that, he pushed me and tried to attack me. His mother got in the way and was protecting him. I felt absolutely threatened and my fight or flight was triggered. I threw a swing at him and his mother threw one at me while she was pushing him away from me. I swung at her too. I was never attacking her or speaking to her. She kept butting in, trying to fight her son’s battles. By the time he pushed me, my husband came running out and pulling me back. Initially, he thought it was his brother and mother fighting (my BIL treats my MIL like absolute shit and always says how he wants to slap her sometimes bc she’s so annoying. But, I guess you can’t kill a mother’s love??)

I also would like to note that he is dating a 16 year old girl who lives in another state. My BIL parents drive him to see her for the weekend every couple of months. Her parents are aware that they’re dating and know his age. They consented to them being together but as far as I know, the girls parents will not leave the two of them alone even if it’s just a small date.

The whole situation is fucked and my husband said that we had to leave because of what happened. Not because they kicked us out, but because he couldn’t have me in the house if everyone was just going to be against me and I didn’t feel safe or respected there. So for now, we’re staying with my mother. And, it’s not the first time my BIL has gotten hostile towards me. He kinda has some issues and still relies on his parents for everything.

I have footage of him pushing me and trying to grab me. You can hear all the commotion and see where I go flying when he pushed me.

I also have footage to follow up on his aggressive/hostile behavior. It mainly contains him charging at his mom, shaking her, trying to hit her, and you can hear all the stuff he told her.

I haven’t told my husband, but I do want to press charges on him or something. give him some kind of reality check. I’ve never felt so violated and disgusted. My husband was just as angry but kept his composure.

What can I legally do? I don’t want to get in trouble either for defending myself. I have a special needs child and a baby I need to take care of. I refuse to leave my babies.

I can’t shake off this feeling off. It’s been two days and every time I think about it, it just gets to me and I breakdown. I don’t want to keep my babies away from their family but I don’t feel safe being around them and my children and little brother.

Please help/: