Prior
An arrest has been made in that violent attack on a woman in NYC yesterday. The suspect has previous.
An arrest was made early Wednesday in a brutal attack on a 65-year-old Asian woman that drew widespread outrage after footage of the assault was released.
It does tend to draw outrage, that kind of thing – kicking a woman in the abdomen so hard that she falls on the sidewalk, then stomping on her head three times. Yes, we get riled when we see something like that. Most people have enough compassion for such a reaction.
New York City police identified the suspect as Brandon Elliot, 38, who was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count each of attempted assault as a hate crime, assault and attempted assault.
He was already on lifetime parole for fatally stabbing his mother in 2002, authorities said. He was freed from prison in November 2019, according to police. No other details about the murder were released.
I’m going to guess he doesn’t like women very much.
Early Tuesday, the Brodsky Organization, which manages the luxury apartments, said the company suspended the apartment building staff members who witnessed the attack and appeared not to come to the woman’s aid.
In a statement posted on Instagram, the company said it “condemns all forms of violence, racism, xenophobia, and violence against the Asian American community.”
The company said that “the staff who witnessed the attack have been suspended pending an investigation in conjunction with their union.” It was working to identify a “third-party vendor present during the incident so that appropriate action can be taken,” according to the statement.
Officials decried the attack and had strong words for the witnesses who appeared to watch the attack without trying to stop it.
Watching them just stand there is painful, but I don’t know their circumstances. I don’t know what rules their employer has laid down or what reasons they might have had to stand back. I don’t really think their failure should ruin their lives.
On what evidence are you making this extraordinary claim? People stab their mothers all the time, you know. It’s perfectly normal.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist. I’ll dial back the sarcasm a couple dozen notches.)
As for the bystanders, it does remind me of that story from some years back, was it? Where a life guard in Florida saved someone’s life and got fired because the life saving happened outside the stretch of beach he was supposed to watch? That story ended well: He got the job back after the general uproar over his firing. But it does illustrate that rules laid down by employers can and does make acting with integrity and honour difficult. At least at sea, the rule is clear: Sailors help each other in an emergency no matter what the consequences to the ship owner’s pocketbook might be. There should be laws like that on land as well. Especially after the attacker had left the scene. For sure, in Norway, it is a serious crime to abandon someone in a helpless state. Don’t other jurisdictions have similar laws?
It’s a legal mess in the USA, with requirements changing from one place to another. Medical training programs here, for example, have extensive segments dedicated just to the role that persons with such training are legally obligated to play. Licensed medical personnel are required by law to render medical aid to anyone in need of it, although stepping between an attacker and a victim would be outside of that; unlicensed persons, such as your average person on the street, are protected by various Good Samaritan laws should they decide to render aid, but often the rule is simply that one cannot stop giving aid once started (with the implication that initially failing to render aid is not a crime).
In the U.S., it varies by jurisdiction (state), and few people know the laws in their own state. (I don’t know the laws in my state.)
A few years back, a neighborhood boy tumbled off of his bicycle onto our front lawn. He didn’t seem to be seriously injured. We got his name and called his mother and she came and collected him in her car. End of story.
But my wife told this story to someone, and they replied, No. Always call 911 (the nation-wide emergency number). That way you are protected from liability if something goes wrong.
“But my wife told this story to someone, and they replied, No. Always call 911 (the nation-wide emergency number). ”
From what I have heard of usa, this is when the family of the boy gets angry at you for sticking them with a bankrupting medical debt.
Not to mention the possibility of the police pepper-spraying the boy, as they did recently in the case of a very young girl.
That’s likely untrue. IANAL, first of all. However, I have earned medical certs from the easy (Red Cross First Aid) to the not easy (EMT-B), and in their legal instructions they’ve all made clear that (1) Good Samaritan laws will protect you from lawsuits if you choose to render aid in good faith, and (2) most people do not have an obligation to render aid (because they do not have medical licenses or a relationship to the patient). So calling the kid’s mother for him to collect him if you think he’s basically okay is rendering aid in good faith, as is calling 911. That is, they’re the same, at least as far as one’s legal exposure in the USA goes. Calling 911 is a step towards definitive care, but if the kid is responding normally and not at risk for something like a concussion the responding paramedics might just call the parents, anyway. About the only way you can be in any real legal jeopardy is if you commence rendering aid, but then stop. So, say the kid fell off his bike and broke his arm, and you splinted it but then left him on his own without either calling his guardian to come get him, or getting him to definitive care (i.e., calling 911). In THAT case, yeah, you could get sued and might not have the protection of the law. Just walking past and doing nothing, astonishingly, is not only legal but actually carries the lowest risk of a suit, because average/normal people on the street are not under obligation to provide medical care.
In the scenario that you describe, Steven, I would have done exactly as you did.
France certainly does: “non-assistance à une personne en danger” is a serious offence, and punished as such.