US subway death spurs outrage, calls for better social services

Prominent figures, including US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have called for accountability in the death. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another progressive Democrat, echoed Pressley’s sentiments and criticised the city of New York for raising rents and attempting to “militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor”. That’s what happen when we defund everything but the carceral state.” Prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump likewise weighed in, writing, “There should be a thorough investigation into this encounter!” However, Mayor Eric Adams, a former New York City Police Department captain who began his law enforcement career with the transit police, cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the incident. Fellow passenger Juan Alberto Vazquez told New York’s WNBC news station that “the man got on the subway car and began to say a somewhat aggressive speech, saying he was hungry, he was thirsty, that he didn’t care about anything, he didn’t care about going to jail, he didn’t care that he gets a big life sentence”. A press release from the mayor’s office said the measure was intended to address the “ongoing crisis of individuals experiencing severe mental illnesses left untreated and unsheltered in New York City’s streets and subways”.