Philadelphia lector assaulted at Mass at Cathedral (video)

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Tis_Bearself

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I’m surprised it took this long to occur in view of all the recent unrest, as well as the number of street people who hang around down there. I note Fr. Gill saying they have these incidents quite often…yeah no kidding, I figured that.

I wonder if they’re even planning to arrest the person who did it. I’m also disturbed by the lacksadaisical attitude of everybody in the video who seem to have just let the perp walk out after punching the lector in the face a bunch of times.

 
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Tis_Bearself said:
I’m also disturbed by the lacksadaisical attitude of everybody in the video who seem to have just let the perp walk out after punching the lector in the face a bunch of times.
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I think people are often stunned, and everyone unconsciously expects someone else to do something.

I wonder what happened. My best guess is mental illness, but who knows?
 
The reports seem to point to the person being somebody who’s been hanging around the church recently and is most likely a street person and/or mentally disturbed. The archbishop is having a meeting and they will be beefing up security.
 
Glad to hear the lector is okay ❤️

The Basilica is right in the City in walking distance to City Hall, the Art Museum, close to Regional Rail, in other words, very accessible location.

This attacker could have been a homeless person or could have literally come from anywhere.

I hope they catch her and either prosecute, or send for mental health treatment, depending on what her “deal” is.
 
My goodness! I used to work on 18th St near Arch St. and would often walk to the Basilica on my lunch hour to sit and pray. I hope the lector is ok and the person who did this is found.
 
I always thought this would be a music director getting socked. Not a lector. But oh well,
Philadelphia must be more civilized than my neck of the woods. Guns would have been drawn and the person assaulting would have been detained forcibly.
 
It sounds like Fr. Gill, the rector, has had to respond to a lot of people wondering why nobody did anything to stop the punch-and-run lady.
 
It was weird to see no one react (some people might be stunned but normally at least a few people would react). I’ll probably be criticised for this but I’ll suggest one of the reasons nobody did anything was because the woman was black, and they didn’t want to ‘get into it’ with a black woman. It might not be the case, but with such high racial tensions in the USA these days, perhaps they thought there must be a reason for the attack (e.g. the lector said something racist to her before) and preferred not to get involved.

On another note, the fact no charges were made is also disturbing. Either the lector did not want to press charges, or the attacker was deemed mentally unstable. If the latter, then it opens up another can of worms, one that really annoys me. Why are there so many mentally unstable people on the streets? It’s dangerous.
 
Polak said:
I’ll probably be criticised for this but I’ll suggest one of the reasons nobody did anything was because the woman was black, and they didn’t want to ‘get into it’ with a black woman.
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That could be. It could also be the bystander effect, if that’s even a term. There’s videos of people being hit by cars and bystanders doing nothing in response. It’s quite disturbing.
 
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Yes I’ve seen videos where somebody attacks somebody else, and despite there being so many people around, no one reacts. It’s weird. It might be the bystanders effect, or simply fear.
 
One thing I know for sure is that not prosecuting this woman helps no one. Oh sure, it gets across this sentimental message that ‘oh I forgive her’ and Christian mercy and all that fun stuff. In reality, however, an unhinged woman like that is a danger to others and prosecuting her would be one way of protecting society.
 
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