A couple weeks ago, Suzy Weiss wrote a great story about a Brooklyn neighborhood where a bunch of very progressive people were trying to deal with a local increase in crime. There had been a number of incidents but the final straw was when a homeless man attacked a woman and her dog in the nearby park. The woman was okay but the dog, who was named Moose, died from his injuries. And that shook people up, at least some of them, because they realized this violent man could actually kill a person.

Today the NY Times has published their own version of this story which opens with the race of the two people involved.

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.

The dog owner’s name is Jessica Chrustic and after she posted about her experience on Nextdoor, she got a range of reactions. Many people were sympathetic but others felt the need to lecture her and those who agreed with her that the man who attacked her and killed her dog should be arrested.

Martin Lofsnes, 52, a dancer and choreographer who moved out of the neighborhood in 2020, came across the conversation while trying to sell some stuff and was appalled by the vitriol directed at an impoverished man, and by what he called “this vigilante attitude.”

He urged people on the thread to put their emotions aside and consider “400 yrs of systematic racism which has prevented black people from building generational wealth through homeownership resulting in the extreme disparity we see today.” Arresting the man, he wrote, would solve none of that.

With all the affluence in Park Slope, he posted, maybe critics should raise money to help the man, not throw him to the lethal jail system, from which he would most likely emerge more dangerous, or not emerge at all.

Chrustic’s story also caught the attention of Nicole Haddad, another woman who walked her dog in the same park and who had been attacked by the same man.

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.”

And as Suzy Weiss’s story explained in detail, there was a local man named Kristian Nammack who suggested it might be time to start a neighborhood watch. He suggested the name “Park Slope Panthers” in honor of the panther statues at the entrance to the park. But his effort to launch the group turned into a fiasco. People came by to tell him they didn’t approve of his suggested name (the Black Panthers wouldn’t approve) and to tell him they didn’t like the idea of more “cops” in the park. One woman who disapproved of his idea really set the tone:

To the delight of people who enjoy making fun of Park Slope liberals, one of the disrupters, a woman calling herself Sky, said, “Crime is an abstract term that means nothing in a lot of ways,” according to Common Sense.

Two months have passed since the homeless man killed Chrustic’s dog and the police still haven’t located or arrested him. Nammack has given up on his plan to launch the Park Slope Panthers and, for reasons that aren’t clear, he was temporarily banned from Nextdoor. But the Times reports that after his ban ended he went back to calling for an arrest and asking people to sign his petition.

Once again he posted the police sketch of Ms. Chrustic’s attacker, above the headline: STILL AT LARGE. PROSPECT PARK VAGRANT. VIOLENT AND SOCIOPATHIC.

Twenty-seven people clicked that they liked the post. Then Mr. Nammack’s posts were removed again.

And that’s where it ends. Nothing has changed except that maybe a few Park Slope progressives have decided they aren’t willing to be victims for the sake of social justice.

As is often the case these days, commenters seem more sensible than many of the people described in the story. Here’s the top comment with more than 2,300 upvotes.

This story has gotten up my dander this morning and I went ahead and signed the petition.

First of all, I find the “a dog’s killing”” headline INFURIATINGLY reductive. The dog died, yes. More importantly, the only reason she did not also die is because of the dog. The man also attacked HER with a stick and has done so before. It really is just a matter of time before he kills a human.

If we want to play identity politics, which I would rather not, but if we are….then I find this piece completely sexist in its disregard for the safety of women in the park. I am so tired at the foibles of men being elevated to the same level as the safety of women. Having said that, I think that is a very narrow way of looking at absolutely anything. But if that is the lens you need to use, go back and read this paragraph. We all deserve safety. That is a basic right.

To me, it is very basic, We either have laws in this country, or we don’t. We either treat everyone under those laws, or we don’t. We can have a separate discussion about mental health in this country and indeed, we need one. We can talk about prison reform. What we don’t and can’t do is use those things as excuses to allow someone to attack others.

Even so, I think the point that gets lost is one of grace. We can feel sympathy for this disturbed but whatever caused his illness DOES NOT EXCUSE NOR JUSTIFY violently attacking people. How is this even a debate?

…ust the stuff that gives the right fodder for saying we are nuts.

He (or she) is absolutely right. It’s honestly a relief to hear someone on the left say so and for so many people to agree. And that’s not the only response like this.

The response to the attack on Ms. Chrustic and her dog is exactly why we Progressives are losing the hearts and minds of Americans every day. Dr. Liao might sit comfortably and safely back in his NYU tower and proclaim that “It’s complicated,” but it’s simply not. She was attacked by a violent man who needs to be located, detained, and provided services to protect him and the community. It’s that simple. What is truly complicated are the myriad ways in which the government and the community might help the victim and the attacker, but all they’re talking about in Park Slope is who’s a better liberal. This is why we have Donald Trump.

Another one:

Here’s what I got from this story:

An unstable man with a history of erratic and frightening behavior did something deeply traumatic to a woman in a public setting. She documented said trauma thoroughly, had witnesses to the malicious act, she attempted to warn other potentially-vulnerable citizens about the dangerous man, and she was instead treated with scorn and patronizing, mansplaining disrespect.

Tale as old as time.

My sympathy for a human’s difficult plight ends when that human commits a violent act against another vulnerable creature, human or otherwise. Period.

This man should have been locked up a long time ago.

This guy from Manhattan even squeezes in a Twilight Zone reference:

The park slope panthers may be corny, but their concerns are valid. I stand by anyone who has one simple goal: make their neighborhoods a cleaner and safer place.

Unfortunately the progessive movement has been highjacked by spoiled people who have more time than sense. They talk, but they don’t listen. And sadly, this has lead to a wildly diminished quality of life for the rest of us.

When did we allow people who only get their news from social media take over our movements? Why do we allow the mentally ill and criminals to go completely unchecked in the name of “social justice”? Look around, people are terrified walking down the streets, taking the subway, or going to a park now. A hug and a social media post is not going to get us through this.

“Don’t be a cop, Kris.” Really? This man killed a dog and threatens others, give me one reason this man should NOT be in jail?

Looking around at the movement these days, I feel like I am in an episode of the twilight zone where everyone has gone insane.

Anyway, I really think the author of this piece was imagining a lot of people would be sidetracked by the involvement of Nextdoor but it doesn’t seem to have worked. Every one of the top 30 or so responses all agree the homeless man needs to be arrested and that people saying otherwise are cranks.