Do people forget that Andrew left a shallow cut on Kevin’s chest after Kevin shoves him against the lockers in book 2? The choking thing isn’t really an isolated incident it’s just that one of them can be clearly justified and there’s no way of knowing how the second one is justified as we don’t have Andrew’s or Kevin’s POV and Neil wasn’t even there to witness it
the second one is not justified just as shoving katelyn against the wall isn’t justified just as trying to break allison’s neck isn’t justified (it’s an overreaction)
that’s just how andrew is
i think that saying that he only resorts to violence when it’s justified is a misinterpretation of his character that comes from wanting him to be better than he really is - but that’s not how morally grey characters work