Whichever side you stand on as to the Anthony/Metcalf murder, the fact remains that a 17-year-old kid brought a knife to a track meet in Texas with the intent to use it. He did! He stabbed another 17-year-old to death.  Cool…cold blooded…without mercy.  It's difficult to digest the kinds of killings that continue in America in 2026.  

For that young Karmelo Anthony, a thug in the making, he's not going to stab anyone else for at least 35 years in prison.  He destroyed his life. He destroyed his family's life. He destroyed young Metcalf's life. He destroyed Metcalf's family forever.  For what?

Some individuals have set passengers on fire on subways in various states.  Other passengers have shot other subway passengers. Young women have been knifed to death on subways. Many have been raped.  It's scary out there!

"Violent transit attacks in Atlanta, New York and Charlotte fuel calls for tougher tracking of repeat offenders. All three suspects had prior criminal histories, including one with at least seven prior arrests and a convicted felon."  said journalist Sarah Rumph-Whitten. "Violent subway attacks in major U.S. cities have renewed commuter fears and sparked outrage over how the justice system tracks repeat offenders. The cases include a shooting on Atlanta's MARTA system, stabbings at New York City's Penn Station and a stabbing on Charlotte's Lynx Blue Line."

Here are three recent public-transit attacks involving accused repeat offenders that have fueled calls for tougher action to protect residents. All of those killers possess one thing in common: they are all repeat offenders. Several of them have been arrested two dozen times, yet cut loose to prey on average citizens. 

Case in point: 

Georgia: Anthony Tyrone Gresham, 42, of Lithia Springs, was charged by criminal complaint on June 8 with committing an act of violence with intent to cause serious bodily injury on a mass transportation system, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Federal prosecutors allege Gresham opened fire on a MARTA train at the Midtown Station on June 5, wounding a teenager before fleeing the scene. (Douglas County Sheriff's Office)

With all those criminal acts, judges let him loose on the public to kill another person or persons.  He opened fire on a 17-year-old on June 5, 2026. 

"Federal authorities charged Gresham with committing an act of violence with intent to cause serious bodily injury on a mass transportation system. He also faces federal charges for possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence."  

Liberal judges will let him go back into society when he should be put away for life.
How about mass transit in New York?

Hector Deleon, 51, was identified as the suspect in a stabbing and slashing spree inside Penn Station's New Jersey Transit concourse in New York City on Sunday, June 7. The random attack happened shortly after 7 p.m. on the NJ Transit concourse inside Penn Station and sent commuters scrambling. "The stabbing spree in the busy Manhattan commuter hub left five people bloodied, with one seriously injured," officials said.

Hector Deleon featured a crime rap sheet as long as your arm. Yet, again, cut loose by judges who are voted into office to protect the public from such chronic criminals.

How about Charlotte, North Carolina?

Decarlos Brown Jr., 35, is accused of fatally stabbing Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, aboard Charlotte's Lynx Blue Line on Aug. 22, 2025. Federal prosecutors said Zarutska sat in front of Brown before he allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed her from behind. Brown has been charged federally with violence against a mass transportation system resulting in death, a charge that could carry life in prison or the death penalty if he is convicted.  Brown had a history of violent crimes, including assaults and robberies, and had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yet he was still free and walking the streets.

"Let me be clear, he will be in custody that whole time. Mr. Brown is in federal custody now and will remain in federal custody until trial," Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, said following the hearing. "For us, our number one goal here is justice for Iryna Zarutska and Iryna Zarutska's family. That's what's on the top of our minds and our hearts every day."

How about the "Number One Goal" of police and judges is to protect American citizens in the first place instead of after the career criminal has killed a loved one?  How about proactive rather than reactive justice. How about forethought rather than afterthought?

Let's face it, American society continues to grow more dysfunctional in our big cities than ever in recorded history.  Do big cities that isolate citizens from the Natural World provoke violence?  It's been proven that if you cram enough mice into a shoe box, they will drive each other crazy to the point of eating each other.  When you look at New York City with 8.5 million people or Chicago with 3.5 million or Los Angeles with 12 million—no wonder a lot of people make a lot of other people—-crazy.  Maybe the 175,000 homeless in California is a sign that compacting people might not be a good idea.

No matter what's happening as to the killing sprees in Chicago every weekend, or individual killings like the Anthony/Metcalf nightmare, we as a society need to look at what we are doing to ourselves.

We need to "think up" and incorporate solutions for mental health, for emotional health, for spiritual health, for nutritional health, and for national health.  If not, we're going to keep reading about individual tragedies that keep piling up in our society.

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