By David Codrea
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- A man was viciously assaulted and robbed on a St. Louis MetroLink train by “several young men” who held him, beat him and went through his pockets, KTVI Fox 2 Now’s “You Paid for It Team” reported Monday. The attack happened days after a student “was terrorized on the train.”
MetroLink’s spokesflak made soothing, meaningless noises, but no concrete changes should be expected from buck-stops-there patronage bureaucrats. They blame “a provision in its contract with the various [police] departments.” The agency spends millions of taxpayer dollars each year contracting for security, but has no way of knowing where police are deployed. And the additional security personnel they say they’re adding don’t even have arrest powers.
Even if they did, and were armed with more than walkie-talkies, that’s hardly a guarantee of passenger safety. A story from a couple years back about a New York subway passenger stabbed multiple times by a murderous madman revealed that an officer who witnessed the attack hid! Which was fine, because the city’s position was that they had no legal duty to protect the victim. Fortunately, the defender was a 6-foot-2, 270-pound MMA fan who managed to take the lunatic down before being added to the death toll, only to have the confrontation-shy cop claim the collar.
Oh, but that’s just one anecdote, right? With all those transit cops, surely lightning never strikes twice…? As far as violent felonies go, it’s struck 2,241 more times so far in 2015 in New York City, “an almost 10% spike from the 2,053 felonies in 2014.”
And when it’s not lone wolf sociopaths menacing the riding public, those authorized by the state to use violence can be a greater danger. Just ask Oscar Grant. And oftentimes, that danger is posed by more than just a few bad apples.
Meanwhile, the hapless MetroLink victim complains not only was there no security around, but that no other passengers stepped forward to help him fight off his multiple assailants. Conspicuously absent from the report was a description of the bad guys, an information suppression trend among news organizations that prize PC acceptability over getting vital BOLO safety information out to the public.
Still, why should other passengers assume such risks?
If a Good Samaritan did step forward with the appropriate amount of force needed to prevail over multiple young assailants, any after-the-fact law enforcement response would go after the rescuer. Is everyone here old enough to remember Bernhard Goetz?
Missouri Revised Statutes are pretty clear about what’s expected of their public transit users:
No weapon or other instrument intended for use as a weapon may be carried in or on any facility or conveyance, except for law enforcement personnel.
It’s curious the professional journalists of the “You Paid for it Team” didn’t see fit to inform their viewers of that “under penalty of law” defenselessness mandate, don’t you think? After all, they paid for it.
And, of course, the “progressives” want to get us all out of our cars and into exactly that type of public transportation. Moves are already underway in Europe to “make private cars obsolete,” something you know you’ll soon see discussed here with greater frequency. We’re still at the stage in this country where they’re going for the end game in increments, with infringements on freedom of movement like “mileage-based road taxes.”
Wait a few more years. Then all aboard the “No Guns” Express!
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and also posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
Kitty Genovese… I haven’t heard that name in a long time. I doubt if many young people know the Kitty Genovese story. Or why it should be important to them.
Avoid the legal nets
That entangled Bernie Goetz.
Just shout “Help! Help! Police!”
Like Kitty Genovese.
There was a time when the Muni busses and light rail in San Francisco allowed police officers, even in plain clothes, to ride free, knowing they were adding a level of protection to the system. That ended, AFAIK, when someone complained that the cops were free-loading. At the same time, Muni hired private armed security officers, but mostly to protect their equipment in their yards, not to protect passengers. They also protected the fare-box transfer from the point of sale to a vault. The officers who worked under these contracts had to be certified as Level I reserves at least.… Read more »
You know the attackers were flipping black savage animals but don’t dare, don’t dare mention that minor point about the vicious attack and strong arm robbery and assault!!!! But, but IF they attackers were WHITE and it was a poor lonely black victim you and I all know how the he#$ that would of played out!! My God “PC” can suck my limp noodle, wake up America before it is really too too late for us all in this down the drain nation.
Bondmen – thanks for posting a video of what happens in a gun free zone with vibrant diversity. Those pathetic little hate crime bullies would not have pulled that off in areas where the citizens can legally carry because they would be too scared of being shot.
To Ammoland: Thanks for all you do to keep us informed. With the Liberals (Gun Banners) in virtual control of the Press, the T.V. Networks, the Movie Industry, the Colleges, and the bulk of the K-12 public schools, we have only a few Conservative Talk Radio Personalities to convey our understanding of the Gun issue to the American People. While forums such as this are useful, they are seen only by those of us who are already pro-2ed Amendment. Fortunately, the American People, for the most part, have an innate common sense, by which they perceive on some visceral level,… Read more »
And back in March a ‘Mike Brown question sparks MetroLink beating caught on video’ https://fox2now.com/2015/03/27/seated-man-beaten-in-metrolink-facebook-video/
shows there’s a HUGE problem with public transit in St. Louis and it is not being adequately addressed by government authorities. I can’t imagine it will be much longer before a gang banger catches a hot round from some abused passenger who has had enough of the punishment and chaos. I wonder why I have never ever been called for jury duty in the 24 years I’ve lived here?
If I can not defend myself because of a “gun free zone”. Those who impose such a restriction should be held responsible for my safety. A lawsuit should be in order here. After a few places are held responsible for a few million dollars, then they will think twice about infringing on our rights.
I live in St. Louis, I don’t ride Metro Link, and I carry a gun. My family doesn’t ride it. I don’t tell people to ride it, unless I don’t like them. Reason? Dangerous. There is NO SECURITY OR POLICE, on the trains. Safety is not the concern for metrolink management only dollars. Yes there is some legal problems to get over to get a full time police on board, but there is no action from them nor the local political scene to correct this.
Looks as if the St Louis Metro Link should be targeted with liability acceptance forms. If the Metro Link is determined to render its passengers defenseless it should accept liability for the resultant injuries and deaths that occur.
[W3]
Gun free zone ? All of New Jersey is a gun free zone. No one is aloud to carry any type of personal protection, unless of coarse you are a big time political donator, a Demon-crat Politician, or a member of the Mob. You ever see a mobster arrested for carrying a hand gun and harassed like the lady from Phili. The rest of us are sitting ducks and when the inevitable happens those ELITEST”S will want more gun control put on the general public. You can bet Swine-y will not give up his, he’s more important than us common… Read more »
Liberals/socialists/communists have done a pretty effective job of disarming the public, I think. Consider this: If law enforcement can’t and won’t protect the public, including individuals, from petty thieves who regularly harass the public, how are they going to protect from any one, two or more persons intent in killing as many people as they can in a single crime spree? If you ignore the law and defend yourself from the everyday criminal trash, usually black, the liberal/socialist/communist government/State’s Attorney will prosecute you for defending yourself. Don’t believe me, believe government victims already destroyed financially in Ferguson, MO and Florida… Read more »
And here we have it, another wasteful Gun Free Zone, what a damn shame.
Good point. I wonder what percentage of the public realizes that cops have zero legal duty to defend their fellow citizens? Or about Supreme Court rulings like Castle Rock vs Gonzalez? It is probably about the same percentag who are aware of obama drone striking US citizens and whoever else he wants to if they show up on his secret kill lists. One or two percent, maybe?