NEW YORK CITY, NY - A convicted killer who reportedly worked at one of New York City’s numerous taxpayer-funded anti-violence groups is reportedly being viewed as a primary suspect in a slashing attack that occurred in the Bronx earlier in May.
A report from the New York Post notes authorities suspect an individual previously charged with two counts of murder in 2006, who would later be acquitted of one and convicted of manslaughter in the second, is now a potential suspect in a slashing attack that occurred on May 5.
According to reports, a 38-year-old man was making his way to a nearby deli in the East Bronx at approximately 3:00 p.m. when the assailant, accompanied by another individual, produced a bladed weapon and slashed the man’s cheek and chin before taking off. According to what sources told the New York Post, the assailant and the man accompanying him both work at Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence (BRAG), which is one of many taxpayer-funded “violence interrupter” groups.
The possible suspect, whom the New York Post did not name since he has yet to be formally charged or arrested, was paroled in 2017 for the manslaughter case and completed parole by 2020. Additionally, BRAG has confirmed this individual is no longer with the organization in light of the potential criminal allegations.
While the criminal investigation into the slashing incident is ongoing, the irony of the broader situation cannot be ignored – that a purported “violence interrupter” who is supposed to curb violence within the city is allegedly contributing to it.
While city-funded programs aimed at reducing violent crime and gang violence have been around for decades at this point, the extreme embracing of some serious offenders with rap sheets rivaling the length of a CVS receipt is somewhat of a novel practice in the wake of the BLM riots that rocked various cities roughly six years earlier.
New York City was among those to take the mantle of embracing absurdities in a post-2020 world, launching a variety of programs centered around violence interrupters that would go as far as to pay people not to commit crimes and be mentored by ex-cons.
Granted, as a reformed convict myself, I can see the value of trying to impart some wisdom on younger people so that they stay out of trouble, it’s a little something we used to just call “advice” – and normal people share common-sense advice like “don’t commit crimes” and “stay away from those people” for free and don’t need to be some kind of ordained mentor. Furthermore, for a city to throw millions at these kinds of programs is just foolish and likely to attract opportunistic shysters.
The concept of largely using ex-cons, particularly violent offenders, to operate some kind of widespread violence prevention program via taxpayer money was bound to result in PR nightmares akin to this Bronx slashing incident, considering how shortsighted it was to begin with.
Call me crazy, but violence prevention programs operated by violent offenders are just a bad idea, because you’ll eventually wind up with some of these offenders picking up new charges. The concept is about as bright as sex offenders running a daycare.
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