Frequently homeless, Kočić took to sleeping on the street. One evening, he was woken by a kick to the gut. A policeman stood overhead, swearing and threatening to arrest him. Kočić fled but later recounted that he forgave the policeman because the kick had been administered by "the same soldier who will, sooner or later, carry victorious banners" into Bosnia. Historian Edin Hajdarpašić believes Kočić's response to this incident is emblematic of his nationalist philosophy. "Some roughness from one's co-nationals was understandable," Hajdarpašić writes, "but an 'alien' rule of law was intolerable since it violated, by default, the 'native' national sentiment that Kočić claimed as his position."