Republicans online are coming for Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) after he condemned the killing of a woman who was burned alive while seemingly sleeping on the New York City subway on Sunday.
A man has been arrested in connection to her death.
“In the F Train at Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, a demented man lit a sleeping woman on fire with a match, causing the victim to burn alive and die at the scene,” Torres wrote on Sunday. “In New York, dangerous people are allowed to freely roam the subway. Yet the political establishment insists on gaslighting the public with deceptive headlines: ‘crime is down’ and ‘the subways are safe.’”
Critics are not taking issue with Torres’ statement about the horrific crime, but his comment that “dangerous people are allowed to freely roam the subway.”
They are pointing to a resurfaced post from 2023 in which he criticized former Marine Daniel Penny, who was recently acquitted in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely.
Neely’s death sparked a strongly divided reaction—with right-wingers hailing Penny as a hero and protector of public safety, and others protesting Neely’s death as unnecessary and inhumane.
Torres at the time was among those criticizing Penny’s actions, writing in a now-deleted post that Penny “should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“There was no justification for choking Jordan Neely for 15 minutes — and ultimately choking him to death,” he added.
Critics of Torres are circulating his post criticizing Penny, calling his outrage over the woman’s death on Sunday performative.
“YOU ENABLED THIS, coward,” wrote right-wing commentator Nick Sortor. “You were literally trying to stuff Daniel Penny in a prison cell for defending the lives of innocent passengers. This is the New York YOU wanted.”
“You literally called for prosecuting someone who could have saved her,” replied someone else. “Want us to believe you? Apologize to Daniel Penny NOW!”
A number of other right-wingers showcased screenshots of the two posts with the caption, “this you?”
Many posters calling Torres out for his Penny post quickly reported being blocked by the representative.
“This Richie Torres coward blocked me within TWO MINUTES of me replying to call him out,” Sortor said.
“He said this and then deleted the evidence and blocked me,” reported Mike Cernovich.
“apparently Congressman Torres, who does NOT have blood on his hands, doesn’t like it when you point out his hypocrisy,” concluded someone else who likewise reported being blocked.
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