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The latest rash of violence on New York City’s subway seemingly included one sign of a working justice system after a stabbed man was pronounced dead.

In addition to the brutality displayed Sunday in Brooklyn when a suspect set a woman on fire, resulting in her being burned to death, crimes throughout the transit system included an attack on an elderly woman, an elderly man, and a shooting. As for a reported stabbing in Queens, District Attorney Melinda Katz has thus far ruled against prosecution as it appeared the 69-year-old man acted in self-defense.

Among the incidents reported while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) attempted to “take a lap” on subway safety, emerging details about the incident on the 7 train in Queens early Sunday morning suggested that the unsuspecting senior had been sleeping when five men approached him, allegedly attempting to make off with his bags.

The New York Post spoke with authorities that detailed, “A yet-to-be-identified 37-year-old man was stabbed to death, and 26-year-old Philipe Pena was left with non-life-threatening slash wounds” after the 69-year-old reacted to the suspected robbery, believed to have been perpetrated by “five younger migrant men.”

Identities of the three other men who had fled the scene only to be arrested blocks away were said to be Henry Toapanta, Jose Valencia, and Oswaldo Walter, according to authorities.

Though transported to Elmhurst Hospital, the stabbed individual was later pronounced dead while the man with the knife also suffered wounds and was taken into custody.

The Post reported, “As of Monday, the Queens District Attorney’s Office was declining to prosecute the case, as it appeared the older man had knifed the pair in self-defense.”

That current decision stood in stark contrast to the initial treatment of former bodega clerk Jose Alba and parking garage attendee Moussa Diarra, who each found themselves initially facing criminal charges when they acted in self-defense against violent criminals in the Big Apple.

As previously covered, the city’s response to citizens attempting to do the right thing when surrounded by lawlessness has resulted in timidity in the face of disaster. Dubbed the “Daniel Penny effect” over the trial of the U.S. Marine Corps veteran who faced charges connected to the death of Jordan Neely for acting to protect fellow riders on a subway, straphangers notably did nothing to aid the woman set on fire Sunday.

In fact, even the police were seen seeking out a fire extinguisher instead of attempting a more immediate effort to save the victim from the fatal flames.

“There’s no doubt that people don’t want to get involved,” said Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa to the Post. “They’re saying to themselves: ‘I don’t want to get jammed up like Penny.’”

“People should have been running over to the woman on fire. They did nothing. They said nothing. Nobody came to her aid,” he added.

Kevin Haggerty
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