Justice Dies When Politicians Turn Vigilantism Into a Campaign Stunt
On his way to see whether his expected presidential bid can play in Peoria, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis upstaged himself with a newsmaking tweet.
“We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny,” he tweeted Friday about the former Marine accused in the May 1 killing of Jordan Neely, a homeless man who had been shouting in the faces of other passengers on a New York City subway.
“Let’s show this Marine ... “ DeSantis tweeted, “America’s got his back.”
At least DeSantis does — and he’s not alone.
When I last visited the sad case of the “subway vigilante,” as some are calling Penny, he was not yet arrested or charged, despite a groundswell of people calling for it after the video was broadcast. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, among others, wanted Penny charged with murder.
But I agreed with Mayor Eric Adams that simple justice requires that we wait for police to investigate before jumping to conclusions. Penny deserved to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, I felt. I’m kind of old-fashioned that way.
But, by the time the Manhattan district attorney’s office charged him with second-degree manslaughter, Penny found a bigger groundswell of financial and online support from high-profile Republicans such as DeSantis, Fox News personalities and other conservatives.
Many hailed Penny as a “hero” and “good Samaritan” and raised nearly $2 million from Kid Rock and others for his legal defense through an online fund.
DeSantis similarly joined many others on the right who sought to turn Penny into a martyr being punished by the “deep state” for supposedly defending public order. DeSantis in this fashion joined former President Donald Trump as a leading contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination celebrating vigilante “justice” in the fashion of Charles Bronson in “Death Wish.”
Did we, as a country, ask for this? Like it or not, that’s what we have in today’s political world as “tough on crime” has taken on a particularly ruthless odor.
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