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Horrific Stabbing Spree in Manhattan Shows How Politicians Still Won’t Lock Up the Dangerous Mentally Ill

Public Safety, Cities Crime Control, Serious Mental Illness, Policing, New York City

Monday morning, after nearly two weeks of buzz about how the recent election heralded a new era in American politics, New Yorkers were treated to a painful reminder of how much life here hasn’t changed.

Three people were stabbed to death in separate incidents across Manhattan.

The perpetrator was a total stranger to each victim and the attacks unprovoked.

The man who has reportedly confessed to the murders is named Ramon Rivera, a resident of the Bellevue Men’s Shelter.

His history of arrests, incarceration and psychiatric hospitalization dates back two decades.

This was a “ticking time bomb” case, to borrow a phrase from our late colleague DJ Jaffe.

We have a perp whose advancing mental deterioration and participation in criminal activities of mounting seriousness all unfolded in full view of mental-health and criminal-justice professionals.

Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post

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Carolyn Gorman is a Paulson Policy Analyst at the Manhattan Institute. Stephen Eide is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He is a 2024-25 public scholar at the City College of New York’s Moynihan Center.

Photo by Jack Berman/Getty Images