A Nation That Doesn’t Help
Kevin McCullough
Two young women. Two public trains. Two cities controlled by progressive politicians who have turned criminal leniency into theology. Two brutal attacks committed in front of witnesses. Two repeat offenders who should never have been free. And in the end, perhaps the most devastating indictment of all: no one helped. Not until it was too late.
In Chicago, 26-year-old Bethany MaGee, a business research analyst with her whole life ahead of her, boarded a CTA Blue Line train last week. She never made it home. Prosecutors say Lawrence Reed, 50, a man with a criminal history reportedly involving more than 70 prior arrests and more than 50 separate cases, walked up to her, doused her with gasoline, and lit her on fire in the middle of a crowded train car. Passengers watched in horror. Many backed away. Some filmed. What they did not do was stop the attack.
Bethany collapsed, engulfed in flames, receiving help only after she was dragged off the train onto the platform. She is now in critical condition, fighting for her life with burns across more than half her body. Days later in a Chicago courtroom, the man accused of turning her body into a torch shouted again and again: “I plead guilty!” It was not the voice of a remorseful man—it was the chant of someone enjoying the spectacle of his own violence.
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https://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/2025/11/24/a-nation-that-doesnt-help-n2666922
