Dear Editor,

In Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar, the senator Marc Anthony when speaking at Caesar’s funeral, condemned the brutal murder of his friend Caesar by other senators and remarked:

O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts

And men have lost their reason

The spectacle of Gavin Paul, an alleged chain snatcher, lying on the pavement in the rain, clad only in his underwear, bleeding to death from a bullet wound in his back, with his blood flowing from his body into the gutter, is a shocking example of man’s inhumanity to man.

From reports, Paul had snatched a woman’s chain – and this a crime which cannot and must not be condoned. However, he was unarmed and was fleeing from his pursuers when a “public-spirited citizen” shot him in the back. He did not confront his pursuers nor did he threaten their lives. A warning shot in the air might have resulted in his capture. In extreme circumstances he could have been disabled by a shot in the lower leg and then immediately taken to the hospital for treatment.

This incident demonstrates how low we have sunk into the dismal pit of insensitivity, where there is scant regard for human life. The punishment for chain-snatching is not death. Cold-blooded murderers plead guilty to manslaughter and are sentenced to a few years in prison. White collar criminals steal millions with impunity and are never called to question. Those persons who watched Gavin Paul bleed to death should hang their heads in shame.

Yours faithfully,
Lloyd H. Marshall