A staffer for Rand Paul was attacked by a 42 year old man a day after being released from federal prison. AP. The attacker, Glynn Neal, stabbed the staffer, Philip Todd, causing a punctured lung and brain bleeding. Todd had no interaction with Neal and the attack is believed to be random and not specifically targeting the staffer. Neal reportedly was hearing voices and claimed that people were going to come and get him. Neal had been sent to federal prison for trafficking and kidnapping women but was released on "good time credit".
My Comment:
This story kind of got buried due to the Nashville shooting yesterday, which has dominated the news cycle since it happened, but I figured that the story was important enough to cover it today. It shows a lot of problems that our criminal justice system has right now, as well as our mental health care.
It seems very clear that Mr Neal never should have been let out. He committed a fairly horrible crime even before he tried to murder Philip Todd. He was convicted of kidnapping and trafficking women into prostitution but was somehow let out early. And he immediately tried to murder a random person and almost succeeded after being let out.
It is also clear that Neal did not have the mental health help he needed. If he was hearing voices he was likely schizophrenic and he was obviously untreated. In a sane world he probably would have been institutionalized but instead he was set free to attack someone.
It's also clear that the federal parole system is not working. Neal was clearly a threat to himself and others but he was somehow let out. Even though he was pretty clearly schizophrenia and dangerous. But the push has been for letting out more people from prison, not keeping them in there.
Thankfully this wasn't a targeted attack. Rand Paul has been attacked multiple times and was almost killed by his neighbor. When I heard about this attack I thought it was another example of deranged people attacking the Senator, this time by proxy. Of course, it doesn't say much for Washington DC when it's a place where a Senate Staffer can get brutally attacked and almost killed.
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