"Think of it like walking down the street and you walk past a couple dozen young folks and they start shouting out taunts at you and laughing"

Alright fine, think of it as a mob of 42 young men

No, I didn't say anybody would be justified as murdering anybody, I just interpreted the passage. Bears aren't capable of murder anyway.

A mob of 42+ young men accosting an old man is more likely than a large group of children randomly being there.

I wasn't told this as a young child, I didn't invent anything. I inferred it from reading various interpretations over the years.

I didn't say anybody deserved anything

I never said I'd personally kill anybody

They weren't killed for merely calling him bald, they were killed because they were going to lynch him for ruining their water scam.