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9 months ago
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A New York City Council member — who last year demanded "justice" for an "erratic" homeless man who died while being subdued by subway passengers he was threatening — is being cast as a hypocrite for questioning why ordinary citizens have seemingly ignored a recent string of violent attacks against women in the Big Apple.
"Where are the men calling this out?" Amanda Farías, a Democratic member representing the 18th District, asked in a post on social media app X.
Farías was responding to a post in which the New York City Women's Caucus stated it was "deeply disturbed [and] concerned about widespread reports of attacks against women in NYC that have been confirmed by the NYPD."
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Several women have posted to TikTok and other social media in recent days claiming that strangers have punched them in the face or the head while walking in New York City.
Shortly after she shared the comment, Farías, who was first elected to her post in 2021, began facing an onslaught of criticism from users who countered that most people choose not to defend others in the city due to fear of retaliation by government officials.
"Afraid to step up because woke politicians will try to destroy their lives?" asked Robby Starbuck, a former Tennessee congressional candidate and conservative commentator.
Starbuck's post included an image of Daniel Penny, the Marine Corps veteran and college student charged with manslaughter in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a homeless Black man who eyewitnesses said became violent on a Manhattan subway in May 2023.
Other users echoed Starbuck, including Christina Pushaw, a former aide to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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"Why aren’t men standing up against criminals who attack women in NYC? Great question…," Pushaw wrote in a sarcastic jab.
"You support locking them up," Ryan Girdusky, founder of the 1776 Project PAC, wrote in another reply.
"They trying to not end up like Daniel Penny," commentator Mike Cernovich wrote.
Cernovich also pointed to a 2023 post in which Farías said she "continue[d] to be heartbroken and outraged by the death of Jordan Neely and the lack of justice."
"The @BLACaucusNYC stands together to demand justice for Jordan and to pay attention to the systems that failed him so we do not lose any more Black New Yorkers to senseless violence," Farías wrote on May 11, 2023.
Penny, 24, told police an "irate" Neely "was threatening everybody" and ranting about going to prison, according to court documents. Neely said he placed the "erratic" passenger in a chokehold, and video shows another man then helped Penny to restrain Neely until the subway car reached the next station.
A Manhattan judge scheduled an Oct. 8 trial for Penny last week. The trial is expected to take four to six weeks, attorneys said. Penny's next hearing is set for Sept. 17.
One witness to the incident called Penny a "hero" and said she was afraid of what Neely might do.
"I’m looking at where we are in the tube, in the sardine can, and I’m like, ‘OK, we’re in between stations. There’s nowhere we can go,’" she told Fox News Digital days after the incident. "The people on that train, we were scared. We were scared for our lives."
Another witness, who recorded the widely-circulated video of the incident, told the New York Post he did not think Neely was in danger as Penny and the other man held him down.
Neely had a documented history of mental illness and a criminal record, which included prior subway assaults.
Penny cooperated with police and was initially released. But he turned himself in 11 days later when District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office charged him with manslaughter.
Transit crime has continued to plague New York City following Neely's death. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has sent the National Guard and state troopers to assist with random bag checks.
Farías did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News' Michael Ruiz and Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.
