On August 3rd, Jessica Chrustic said a man in Prospect Park, located in Brooklyn, attacked her and her dog with urine and a giant stick.
Unfortunately, the dog died.
How does John Leland at The New York Times frame the story? Good Lord:
Real-world ethics question: In a well-used city park, a man with a history of erratic behavior attacks a dog and its owner with a stick; five days later, the dog dies. The man is Black, the dog owner white; the adjoining neighborhood is famously progressive, often critical of the police and jail system. At the same time, crime is up in the neighborhood, with attacks by emotionally disturbed people around the city putting some residents on edge.In a dog-loving, progressive enclave, where pushing law and order can clash with calls for social justice, what’s the right thing to do? How do you protect the public without furthering injustice against this man?
Chrustic’s neighborhood has seen a 50% rise in serious crimes from two years ago.
Thing is, the attacker is a regular in the park, making people nervous and scared regularly. It has nothing to do with the color of his skin or appearance:
She had seen the man before — tall, with dreadlocks wrapped in a turban, carrying a long staff and often muttering to himself or cursing — and she usually kept her distance. But this morning there was no room to avoid him.—She was especially frustrated that the man, who was well known to people in the park, had not been arrested. “You have a person who is walking around the park who is violent and needs to be removed,” she said. “He’s known by the community. It’s disheartening.”
It seems like Leland cannot believe that most people in this “progressive enclave” want the man to be punished for his crime.
Chrustic posted about the attack on Nextdoor. Some responded negatively, but she said something that reminds people this isn’t a left or right issue: “And people also take it as an opportunity to vent. It becomes a politically divisive conversation I have no interest in being a part of.”
Nicole Haddad suffered a similar attack three years ago. It left her shaken to the point where she needed “behavioral specialists and anti-anxiety medication” (emphasis mine):
“When I read Jessica’s post, I got really, really triggered,” she said. “I just knew the journey that Jessica was going to be in for, because it’s caused me emotional and financial duress. I reached out to her immediately.” The two women compared information and concluded that their dogs were attacked by the same man. To the people who focused more on social justice than removing a threat, Ms. Haddad said: “I tell those people to shut up. They don’t have a leg to stand on.“I don’t care that it’s being divisive, and that people don’t want to see this guy die in Rikers Island,” Ms. Haddad added. “I’m a New York liberal. I am absolutely for people getting the help they need. But this person is attacking people and killing dogs. He’s targeting women and dogs. He’s violent. He should not be in the park. He should be locked up and paying for his actions.”
Obviously, the man has mental health issues.
Yes, he needs help. Yes, he needs to be held accountable for his actions.
It has nothing to do with the color of their skin. It has everything to do with people making any situation a racist, sexist, blah blah blah situation.
It has everything to do with a city lacking officers because the bigwigs mistreat them and have a lax attitude toward crime.
You don’t have to be Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, or whatever to be tough on crime. You don’t have to be any of those to know homelessness is a problem, mainly affecting those with mental illness.
But no one, absolutely no one, should be scared or worried about taking a walk.
You cannot allow dangerous people to remain on the streets.
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