Ryan Carson Brooklyn social justice activist stabbed to death in Bedford Stuyvesant engaging deranged man during early morning hours while waiting for bus with girlfriend. No arrests.
What were they thinking? A Brooklyn man was stabbed to death by a deranged man during the early morning hours of Monday morning in Bedford Stuyvesant as he and his girlfriend were captured on video waiting for the bus just on 4am.
Ryan Carson, 32, a social advocate and environmentalist and his girlfriend had just returned from a wedding in Long Island that night and were sitting at a bus stop along Lafayette Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard as they waited for the B38 bus.
The couple had just alighted from the Bedford Nostrand subway stop. An area, even during daylight hours, let alone in the dead of night is known for its seedy disposition amid ongoing gentrification in the ‘hood’.
“He had a big brain, but he had a really big heart.” Friends remember Ryan Carson, the Brooklyn activist stabbed to death on the street this week.
The NYPD released photos of persons of interest they’re searching for in the investigation. https://t.co/6zYUacrUxK@CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/8RdcKpTSLQ
— Ali Bauman (@AliBaumanTV) October 5, 2023
Suspect, 18, history of emotional & mental issues arrested in slaying of Brooklyn social justice activist
‘What the f–k are you looking at?’
Surveillance footage shows an un-identified man passing the couple, with the couple moments later getting up to walk along the desolate street in the same direction as the man had just passed.
Just feet ahead of them, the un-identified man begins kicking scooters parked near the curb for no apparent reason, footage shows.
Suddenly, the unhinged man turns to Carson, demanding, ‘What the f–k are you looking at?’
Carson engages the deranged man, telling him, he wasn’t looking at anything, only for the unhinged man to now approach the couple.
‘I’ll kill you!’ the deranged man threatens as Carson pleads with him to ‘Chill! Chill!’ as video shows him holding up his hand.
The unhinged man begins to pursue Carson, pulling out a knife, as the Carson’s girlfriend runs up behind them, with the woman heard frantically yelling, ‘Please, please, please!’
As he runs, Carson tumbles over the bench the couple had earlier been sitting on.
The assailant then grabs his jacket and knocks him onto the ground, stabbing him multiple times in the chest as the victim’s girlfriend catches up to them.
He then walks away as Carson lies curled up on the ground, before returning and approaching the terrified woman.
The deranged man spits on her – while still clutching the knife – before kicking Carson’s mortally wounded body and storming away.
An unknown woman then appears near the corner of the frame, yelling, ‘Don’t hurt him!’ at the crazed man and repeating what sounds like the name ‘Brian’ or ‘Bryan.’
Investigators believe that woman and the suspect knew each other prior to the slaying, police sources told the nypost.
Suspect sought – no arrests
‘I’m so sorry!’ the same woman exclaims as she approaches Carson, still lying on the sidewalk, as his worried girlfriend stands at his side.
‘Go watch him,’ the girlfriend tells the woman, pointing at the attacker.
‘I’m calling 911,’ she adds.
The video cuts off as the girlfriend kneels over Carson’s body, as she surveys the scene and tries to make sense of what had suddenly unfolded during the dead of night.
Carson was rushed to Kings County Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead. Reports told of the man’s heart having being pierced by multiple stabs.
No arrests had been made in the ‘random’ crime, as a ‘Wanted’ poster circulated showing a close-up of the suspect wearing a black ‘Champion’ sweatshirt.
Investigators have not recovered the murder weapon, which sources said the suspect initially tossed in a pile of trash before quickly going back to retrieve it.
Social justice activist
A pair of glasses worn by the victim – and two books that Carson’s girlfriend appeared to have been carrying during the assault were found by investigators at the site of the attack.
Carson, a rising star in the world of public policy, arrived in NYC from Boston in 2010 to attend Pratt Institute –and was a senior solid waste campaign manager at the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), according to his LinkedIn.
Carson was active in public policy advocacy on a range of issues, including climate change and harm reduction, NBCNY reported.
‘He is a larger than life character,’ said Blair Horner, executive director of NYPIRG, who worked with Carson. ‘He’s very, very jovial, and charismatic staff loved him. His students loved him.’
‘It’s a terrible tragedy. The world will be somewhat less well off because of his absence.’
The social justice advocate according to his colleagues was on a mission to make New York a better place.
Combatting NYC crime
In a statement, NYPIRG called Carson ‘a beloved staffer, colleague and friend, and a creative, talented, relentless and upbeat advocate for students and the environment.’
‘His engaging personality, hearty laugh and wide-ranging intelligence were keys to his success in advancing the causes he deeply cared about in his work and personal life,’ the organization said of the employee. ‘Ryan was a consummate team player who would happily undertake the basic ‘blocking and tackling’ tasks necessary to advance and win on an issue, but also shined in the spotlight as a leader, campaign manager and spokesperson.’
Come Monday night a vigil was held for Carson in Bedford-Stuyvesant as cops continued to seek the man who stabbed the activist to death. An activist who in his mind presumed that he could do little wrong and offer his aid and support to the ‘misunderstood’ and ‘oppressed’ men who roam the crime ridden streets of NYC…
