Ken WhiteFeb 3, 2023

A mentally ill homeless guy walked onto a high school campus in my suburb, wearing all black, carrying a big duffel bag. Now, it’s reasonable to be concerned about that and want to identify who it is, assure he’s not carrying weapons onto the campus, and so forth.

But the community (as, perhaps, poorly represented on Facebook) is coming completely unhinged.

/1

Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/2 The cops found him at a local Starbucks, identified him, determined he had no weapons, and gave him a trespassing ticket. The community is OUTRAGED. They’re stalking him around the community and taking pictures of him at Starbucks and McDonald’s and demanding that he be kicked out. They want him jailed or institutionalized.
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023

/3 They’ve found his Twitter and Facebook accounts and are printing out the stuff there - kind of crazy, not notably crazy on Twitter — taking it to the police demanding he be arrested. They’re keeping meticulous logs of his activities.

I am considerably more afraid of my neighbors than I am of this mentally ill homeless guy.

Show threadKen White
/4 The real question is .. will I keep my mouth shut and stay out of the neighborhood group where people are wigging out? Or will I comment?
Feb 3, 2023 at 3:19pmWeb
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/5 It is … not going well.
Show threadBrucegFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat as was written in the ancient scrolls :) Not surprised. Good luck Ken!
Show thread~stern Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat what’s happened now?
Show threadBigbeeFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat That second choice. Definitely the second one.
Show threadShaneFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat do it! You won’t change any minds but you’ll aggravate yourself all day, which is what the internet is made for.
Show threadLong Truong Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat is this rhetorical? Of course you'll comment. 😂
Show threadRobert Petersen Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat oh comment for sure. Don’t let them have that echo chamber.
Show threadJohn MinnihanFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat tough call.

i preempted that shit long ago by not joining nextdoor. any mention i see/hear of the crap that goes on there reinforces the correctness of my choice.

Show threadTortoliaFeb 3, 2023
@jbminn @Popehat Blanket statements and all, but the best description of Nextdoor I’ve ever read was that its primary function is to help you determine which people in your area are really racist versus just sorta borderline racist.
Show threadJohn MinnihanFeb 3, 2023
@tortolia @Popehat blanket statements cover it well
Show threadkkearnsFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Oh, I think we all know what you're going to do.
Show threadLot⁴⁹Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat We had an otherwise-rational neighbor ask us to remove large decorative rocks from our front yard lest antifa use them to attack us.
Show threadDrew KadelFeb 3, 2023
@12thRITS @Popehat That would definitely be the occasion to plan an antifa 4th of July block party!
Show threadJeff DillonFeb 3, 2023
@12thRITS @Popehat I'd almost forgotten about the 2020 paranoia about (checks notes)... bricks and gravel for construction projects ahead of what turned out to be peaceful walks by high school students. Whereas the "in-person votes = real votes" sign guy on the boulevard looks like he's close to snapping.
Show threadComrade Lion-OFeb 3, 2023
@12thRITS Antifa is a nearly unstoppable menace to America, whose only achilles heel is their completely inability to function without access to large, decorative lawn rocks.
Show threadShannonFeb 3, 2023
@12thRITS @Popehat Oh my god.
Show threadDirk HohndelFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat you do realize that while most of us haven't "met you" - we all have met you...
So this really isn't a question at all. 😇
Show threadDirk HohndelFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat please just remember to post screenshots here 😎
Show threadJoé McKenFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat No reason not to chime in and push back on their lunacy, and maybe show other lurkers that there are still some sane people in the neighborhood.

(Well, no reason other than keeping your blood pressure under control.)

Show threadDavid Penfold Feb 3, 2023

@Popehat tell them to mind their own business.

There but for the grace of God etc...

Show threadRick Minerich 🔥Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat I'm not sure I'd be able to help myself
Show threadDan KeenFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat …. Comment, of course. With substantial snark, hopefully!
Show threadBrendan B.Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat Comment!
Show threadJemal Cole Loves Each of YouFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Having seen it, I think you have a duty to say something, especially if you think these people are likely to escalate.
Show threadCartyBostonFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat also, do you need to move?
Show threadLog 🪵Feb 3, 2023
@CartyBoston @Popehat Is there a GIS map overlay that shows neighborhoods that *do not* have an HOA, Nextdoor, or Facebook group? The xenophobic NIMBY panickers are everywhere.
Show threadGadgetGavFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat 🤔
Show threadKeith (karmajunkie)Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat i think we all know the answer to that question.
Show threadPenguin PeteFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat From everybody's reaction as you describe, I'm guessing the homeless guy is a person of color?
Show threadBitnikFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat this reminds me why I didn't stay long on Nextdoor. I like to think of my neighbours as the kind, civilised, understanding people as they present themselves to me in daily life, not the rabid, xenophobic mob they form on that site. A gypsy group camped on disused land had them salivating and frothing, and my casual statement that my daughter would regularly walk through the streets of Hackney when we were lived in London drew anger for not being racist enough.
Show threadLindaMaeTXFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat My advice is to be cognizant on *how* you comment so that you can actualize change. Empathize with their fear -listen to them so that they will listen to you. Then use your common sense leadership skills to talk them off of the ledge.
Show threadMike VincentFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat please comment and post the replies you get
Show threadWrenFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat

Re-framing the real question may help you decide, “Will you be able to live with yourself if something should happen and you didn’t at least try to be a voice of reason?”

Show threadEddiKatFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat We all know you will have to weigh in eventually and post screenshots for the rest of us.
Show threadauthor_is_ShrikeTron🔠💉x5Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat Is there no way to comment anonymously?
Show threadAlenka UnkFeb 3, 2023
@ShrikeTron @Popehat What’s the fun in that?
Show threadDrew KadelFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat I do think that raising alternatives to panic, such as compassion and sanity, is a good thing. I directed a *private* academic library where for years a mentally ill homeless man was allowed to come & read & use the internet. I met him at church. (we made him put his bags of hoarded papers someplace inconspicuous before coming in)
Show threadTom Bellin Feb 3, 2023

@Popehat It certainly sounds as though there are some mentally ill people in that neighborhood group.

My experience is that the worriers will move on after a few days of harassing this guy.

As long as the cops don't actually do anything (and are clear that vigilantism isn't acceptable), it should all come to nothing.

Show threadRichardFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat This is one of those questions where the answer depends upon your level of privilege. How much can you expect the mob to identify you as "us" vs. the risk you feel that you could be categorized as "them". My people have not traditionally had good luck with the mob, but your mileage may vary.
Show threadTed GarrisonFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Can you help him get a restraining order taken out against all your nut-job neighbors?
Show threadTed GarrisonFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Or maybe get the cops to explain to them the details of what constitutes stalking?
Show threadJ.P. StewartFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat I feel you have succinctly characterized the reaction our entire city has to the under-housed. I wish people would understand and control their fears better, and especially not project them en masse to so many others.
Show threadsbobcatFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat You have to speak up and advocate for him and counter the rhetoric and eco chamber. You may not win or be shouted down, but you need to be a voice of reason in the room. There are others who see this activity and aren't commenting but are taking it in. Those are who you are speaking to.
Show threadwrite_lightFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Comment!
Show threadBrian BrownFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat You will comment.
Show threadAlenka UnkFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat You will comment and possibly find out there are others out there who feel the exact same way but stay quiet as they figure nobody else does since the psychos are the only ones speaking up.
Show threadMacCruiskeenFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Don't forget to remind them that it is never RICO.
Show threadHelen TeixeiraFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat I recommend saying that Jesus has returned and is testing them, whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers yada yada yada. At the very least some Catholic guilt will kick in and those guys will stfu. But we all know you're going to do this, it's just a matter of what you're going to say. 🤪
Show threadAri TuretzkyFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat I know that the answer is to not comment, but if you don't keep this thread going after you inevitably comment I will be upset.
Show threadMike LaursenFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat At this point your wisest course of action would be to move out of the neighborhood…
Show threadMatthew RodierFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Statistically people suffering mental illness are at a higher probability of being victims of violent crime than perpetrators of it so it would seem you have a moral imperative to be the voice of reason so someone doesn't try to harm him. Genocides have grown out of social media hysteria multiple times. This man could be in danger.
Show threaddjmFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat The crime he committed was violating those parents' collective illusion that school shootings happen "somewhere else".
Show threadBenFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat In addition to the ethical issues raised by some others here; you're a lawyer and you're seeing an organised effort to stalk and harass someone. Which is usually a crime.

What is your professional obligation here?

Do that. Even if it's a little more work than merely calling them out.

Show threadNick from TorontoFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat do it.
Show threadMalcFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Check Nextdoor.com to calibrate the Facebook temperature. Then go a sit on top of a mountain for a few hours with your wife...
Show threadL PFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat Play dumb like you haven’t noticed people wigging out. Ask if we can pass around the hat to buy him a house or at least a camper van. Ask if anyone knows a place where he can get a job. Are there any doctors in the neighborhood who can see him pro bono to prescribe him the meds he needs? Say it’s “the Christian thing to do”. Tell them you’re calling in the local anarchist collective to provide support.

Would love to hear how your neighbors respond. (Of course it’s real easy for me to sit far, far away and suggest ways to piss off your neighbors.)

Show threadMark TomczakFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat If you have to ask, you already know the answer. ;)
Show threadLive, Laugh, LovecraftFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat we all know you're not going to keep your mouth shut about this, Ken.
Show threadKayna (Lauren_Wu)Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat If you comment please report back on the fallout!! 🍿