Sticking with public transit, keeping faith in humanity after Purple Line scare
I am writing to thank three individuals who were able to de-escalate a potentially dangerous situation which could have ended in tragedy.
On Jan. 22, I boarded the southbound Evanston Express — Purple Line — train at the Davis station to attend an event downtown. At one point during the ride, a disheveled man who was displaying obvious mental issues boarded the train and took a seat diagonally across the aisle from me in the car. But he wasn’t bothering anyone, so I continued my ride.
However, a few stops later the man got up from his seat. At first he simply stood by the doorway vestibule, but then he started walking directly toward me with one hand down the front of his pants and the other grabbing at an object, at which point I started yelling, “Get away from me!”
At this point the man pulled out a knife, and I started yelling again “He’s got a knife!” and pulled out a can of Mace from my purse, which I had every intention of using. But before I could press the trigger, another man got up and pulled the man with the knife away from me. A second man moved from across the aisle to sit beside me.
By this time we had pulled into the Sedgwick station, where the driver stopped the train and ordered the man with the knife to get off. The man who had been restraining the man with the knife blocked the door so that he could not reboard the car. He then reassured me that I was no longer in danger. The driver also approached me, asked if I was OK and I believe, later alerted authorities. I noticed one of the buttons on his uniform said "Be Kind," which he was.
Was I frightened? Absolutely. Did I feel threatened? Yes, yes, I did. An obviously disturbed man with a weapon approached me in a menacing manner.
But afterward I felt reassured. Two complete strangers had come to my aid, and the driver took it upon himself to check on me. And to answer the question of whether I still ride the CTA, I actually went on to attend the event downtown, and I rode the same train back to Evanston later that afternoon, fortunately without incident. As someone who does not own a car, CTA, Metra and Pace are how I get around other than on foot.
Believe me, I have no illusions that the CTA or public transit in general is perfect. I do carry Mace, after all. But I also know that public transit is one of the Chicago area's greatest assets, which deserves support, and yes, improvement — not vilification. I am grateful for its presence — and for people like those riding with me a few days ago.
Audrey Henderson, Evanston
U.S. no longer safe haven
As a clinical law professor who has been directing an immigration law clinic for over a decade, I endlessly research, write and teach about other nations whose citizens struggle to survive authoritarian, dictatorial and fascist governments.
My students and I represent people betrayed by their leaders: political activists deemed dangerous, then unjustly prosecuted and imprisoned; members of social-religious movements labeled terrorists, then blacklisted and tortured; and peaceful protesters shot by the same security forces charged with protecting them.
I have seen the events play out repeatedly. A change in power. A change in policy. Peaceful public outcry. Violent government response. No more democracy. No more rule of law. No more freedom. I have looked on as these countries devolved into corruption, violence, poverty, distrust and terror.
My heart has been broken over and over again by my clients’ suffering, and the only solace that saved me for the work is the knowledge that the services my clinic provides give these individuals a second chance to live meaningful, productive, and most importantly, safe lives in the United States. I no longer feel like I can offer that.
We fight every day against the deportation machine that our government has become, so that individuals who are desperate to remain here legally and safely may do so. But it is starting to feel disingenuous.
The rhetoric from the White House is deplorable; anathema to this country’s roots. We were taught to welcome the stranger, the tired, the poor.
At times, I find myself wondering, “Why would anyone want to come here now?” Why would you leave your world behind and, in the face of tremendous risk, live in a nation that openly loathes you? The answer: desperation.
It is true that we are not yet facing the magnitude of human rights violations that some other countries have, but democracies are not disassembled overnight. Protections are slowly chipped away. The checks meant to ensure balance become smaller, and the system eventually upends. In the U.S., our courts have been trying to do their part, but the executive ignores their intangible orders. Congress is made inconsequential by its own incompetence. Who is left to save us?
This is not the moral and ethically driven America we studied and grew to admire in history classes. This is a new, terrifying and vindictive America, where the danger our own government poses to some means that safety is guaranteed to none.
Lauren R. Aronson, clinical professor and director, Immigration Law Clinic, University of Illinois College of Law
Meaning of murder
President Donald Trump's aide Stephen Miller says federal agents may have breached “protocol” in Minneapolis. Is that what we’re calling murder now?
Lauretta Hart, West Ridge
Truth and lies
We have come full circle from a fabricated quote often attributed to George Washington: “I cannot tell a lie" to Donald Trump's apparent motto: "I cannot tell the truth."
Jackie Tinker, Des Plaines