Crime may be up, but chivalry isn't dead. Okay, "chivalry" is a bit too noble a word for what happened to a woman-puncher in New York on the night of April 7th, but at least this attacker received some street justice. That's the conclusion on social media, anyway.
At 14th St. and 7th Ave., a man aggressively approached a middle-aged woman outside of a Walgreens pharmacy. The man raised his fist and struck the woman in the head twice. Immediately, a young man approached the attacker and knocked him to the ground. Five young men materialized and surrounded the attacker, punching and kicking him.
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The fight was broken up by yet another man, but not before the attacker absorbed a heaping helping of "street justice." Many commenters on X delighted in the turnabout.
What goes unsaid is that this was very nearly the same kind of head-stomping beatdown that regularly results in brain damage or death in inner-city-setting videos that make up the bulk of content on sites like WorldStarHipHop. Accounts on X are celebrating this instance due to circumstance. Yes, a man broke the social contract. Does he deserve punishment? Undoubtedly! Is that an excuse to laud mob behavior?
Kaylee Gain, the 16 year-old from St. Louis whose head was smashed repeatedly on the street, stands as a sobering reminder about what happens when pavement and bone repeatedly meet. The suspects in these incidents are usually similar.
Yes, New York has experienced a spate of male-on-female attacks that have rattled the collective conscience of the city. That doesn't change the ethical calculus. The attacker deserves to be judged legally, not by a bunch of street thugs.
It may not be a popular stance, but the moment we start to cheer for low-impulse gang behavior as a solution to societal ills is the moment we lose all moral high ground. There are two heroes in this situation. First is the young man who intervened and stopped the initial scuffle. The second, odd as it may sound, is the young man who stopped the stomping.
That said, let's get the crazy old woman-puncher behind bars ASAP.
