ÜBER DIESE EPISODE
Tonight, on this fact-finding, exclusive, explosive episode of Light ‘Em Up …
What may have lingered under the surface for years … with only subtle, sporadic indications of any significant problem … burst loose in a blink of an eye in Times Square for the world to see late in the afternoon on August 31.
The assailant, Pamela Cisneros, 49, of Queens, stabbed two people, 1 fatally, before being fatally shot by the NYPD.
Cisneros had a “documented mental health history” that included encounters with the police in 2018 and 2019, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said while speaking at a news conference that day.
Just like Tuesday September 11th, 2001, Monday, August 31st, 2026, in the heart of The Big Apple started out as a completely normal day.
Erin Piacenti was walking through Times Square in Manhattan, heading home from work in the afternoon. She never made it home.
Ms. Piacenti was walking on West 42nd Street when she was approached by a 49-year-old woman who stabbed her in the abdomen.
She was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The other victim, a 68-year-old Rhode Island man named Tak Kam, who was in the city visiting his son, was expected to recover.
We begin this incendiary episode with the exclusive audio from a brief evening press conference on Monday August 31st in Times Square with comments from the mayor and the 48th NYPD Police Commissioner, Jessica Tisch.
We’ll look at what we know about:
— the stabbings in Times Square, The NYPD and law enforcement’s response in general to suspects with mental illnesses, some case law about shootings of suspects brandishing a knife,
And as we push further:
— We’ll speak to the requirement to de-escalate and analyze the law enforcement critical, emergency response to this high stress incident, analyzing their TTP’s (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures) in this specific case.
And we’ll close …
— with a look at less-lethal options available to police when confronting suspects armed with knives or similar cutting instruments.
This incident happened right by a Times Square NYPD sub-station … which was put into place to improve emergency responses.
The recently elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he did not call for a mental health professional to be deployed during the active August 31 stabbing attack in Times Square, but instead publicly praised the responding police officers for stopping the suspect.
While some online critics and policing observers later questioned whether alternative tactics or mental health de-escalation could have been attempted earlier, city leadership firmly defended the officers' use of lethal force given the immediate threat.
If Ms. Cisneros… a Hispanic woman of color …if she were white, would they have shot her?
Weren’t there other less lethal options at the NYPD’s disposal other than shooting her in the middle of a bustling Times Square, with traffic moving behind the knife-wielding woman who was clearly in the grip of a mental health meltdown.
How many times has this been the case … (especially in New York City) with only the specific details changing?
No one could see it coming.
No one was able to address the “push factors” …
Wrong, as she was, to stab anyone, Ms. Cisneros simply became eligible to be shot down like a dog in the streets … because she no longer had the ability to deal with society in a rational manner — the way “we see it”.
None of her medical doctors could prevent it. Her family had no clue.
This will happen again and again and again. It won’t stop. The names will simply change.
We’ll shine the antiseptic light of the truth, and we’ll plant our flag on these topics … y mucho, mucho más aquí … y solamente aquí… con: Light ‘Em Up!
Without fear or favor … we follow the facts wherever they lead.
In times of uncertainty, facts provide clarity …
The search for the truth begins RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW!
We speak the truth, protect the vulnerable and always pursue justice.
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