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 WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/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?
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 Minnihan
@tortolia @Popehat blanket statements cover it well
Feb 3, 2023 at 8:23pmWeb