AITAH for calling the police on my brother after he hit his girlfriend at a family dinner?

A Redditor shares a difficult situation in which they called the police on their brother after he hit his girlfriend during a family dinner. Despite the family trying to downplay the incident and make excuses, the Redditor stepped in to protect the girlfriend and ensure the police were involved. Now, the family is furious and accusing the Redditor of overreacting and “ruining” the brother’s life. Read the full story below.

‘ AITAH for calling the police on my brother after he hit his girlfriend at a family dinner?’

I was having a family dinner at my house last weekend. My brother brought his girlfriend, who’s been with him for about a year. We’ve never been super close, but I always try to include him in family events.

During dinner, they started arguing over something small—what show to watch later, I think. It quickly escalated, and my brother snapped. He stood up, yelled at her, and then slapped her across the face. Everyone was shocked, but no one did anything.

His girlfriend was clearly terrified, and my parents tried to downplay it, saying my brother was just “stressed” and “didn’t mean it.” I didn’t care what excuses they made.

I immediately took his girlfriend into another room, locked the door, and called the police. My brother was arrested, and now my entire family is furious with me. They’re saying I ruined his life, that it was a “private matter,” and that I should have stayed out of it.

Here’s the comments of Reddit users:

Longwinded_Ogre −  Oh no, it’s the consequences of his actions. No one is unaware that slapping the s**t out of someone at dinner is illegal. That’s a known fact. What is he, surprised? Did he just assume you’d all be willing accomplices to his domestic violence? F**king gross, honestly. Your family should be ashamed of themselves, but you shouldn’t at all. NTA.

Youarehe −  NTA!!! You’re a spectacular human being. Thank you for protecting that girl. You did everything right. I hope this is a wake up call for her and that she leaves him.

If she looked terrified and didn’t immediately respond, he’s probably done this a dozen times before. Your brother is a POS. Shame on your parents for making excuses for him. Stick to you guns OP, there aren’t enough good people like you ❤️

LegPossible1568 −  Unfortunately this is a common attitude and even victims downplay the severity of the a**ault/abuse. If it was not a big deal then the police would not have arrested him. So it is OK to hit people behind closed doors? Is it OK to hit them that just because you know the other person?

Bonnm42 −  NTA it’s not a private matter. He physically assaulted his GF.. that is illegal. Tell your family that when they enable domestic abuse, they become complicit in it.

shammy_dammy −  NTA. We see where he gets it from, if your parents are going to cosign on a**ault, they’re equally part of the problem. They want to rug sweep his criminal act? His abuse?

grincimo −  NTA. Never ok for a man to put his hands on a woman. He has the balls to do this in front of your family, imagine what he does behind closed doors. Don’t feel guilty. You did the right thing!!!

PBCupsFan77 −  NTA. Your brother is the one who did something wrong, not you! If he gets in legal trouble (and I hope he does), he has brought this on himself.

Onebowhunter −  NTA. I would have done much worse to him . I am a pretty mellow guy but if a man hits a woman in front of me ( has happened three times in my life ) a switch flips and it’s not pretty

ProtectionSad9077 −  NTA!!! I would have clocked him with a f**king pan across the brow! You showed restraint and calm in that moment!

Moesko_Island −  This is your only post, you made this account today, and you ended the post with a link to a generative AI website. This entire story is here to route clicks to your website. I can’t believe people aren’t picking up on this. This is literally just here to farm clicks.

Do you think the Redditor made the right decision by calling the police, or should they have handled it differently, given the family’s reaction? How would you respond if you witnessed a family member acting violently? Share your thoughts below!