Sympathy for The….
Daniel Penny was found "Not Guilty" of Negligent Homicide in New York City after he put a choke hold on Jordan Neely who was threatening fellow passengers on the subway. He was acquitted in December of last year (2024). How was he free to roam the streets when he had 42 previous arrests—including "three unprovoked assaults on women in the subway between 2019 and 2021." Below are accounts of what occurred that day. (Penny deserved to be acquitted.)
…a witness stating that she had been riding the subway for years but had never encountered a person who "put fear into" her as much as Neely did. Prosecutors stated that Neely was high on synthetic marijuana and suffering from mental illness at the time of the incident. Defense attorneys stated that Penny initially ignored Neely, but acted after he saw Neely approach the mother and son (hiding behind a stroller), while saying, "I will kill." Prosecutors said that Neely was "making threats and scaring passengers" when Penny placed him in a chokehold (from Wikipedia on "The Killing of Jordan Neely").
On March 1, 2025, a man with a knife chased two people into a Chick-fil-A on Boylston Street in Boston; he was attempting to stab them. An off-duty police officer identified himself and instructed the man to drop his weapon, but he did not comply. "The officer discharged his weapon to stop the threat, and the individual was struck. The armed individual was then taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead." Now, what kind of reaction do most people have to a situation like this? As in the other instance mentioned above, we rejoice that those threatened were not harmed. Had no one intervened, innocent people might have died in both circumstances.
Curiously, however, the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, first commiserated with the attacker's family. She said, "My condolences and all of our thoughts are with the family of the individual whose life has been lost. And I'm also thinking of all the people who were impacted here today…." It's nice that potential victims, who were terrified, got an honorable mention. Why is it that the criminal gets more sympathy than the victims? People certainly have misplaced priorities. Why did the mayor not say, "We owe a debt of gratitude today to a quick-thinking, off-duty policeman who saved two people from being wounded or killed today by a man wielding a knife"? Why does the criminal get top billing? Oh, sure, eventually we might find out that the guy was pushed over the edge and that his family has suffered greatly because of his actions, but at the moment (practically) the crime is being committed, he is not the object of concern. Stopping him is. The world is upside down!