Public safety threats. Liabilities to society.
These are some of the ways people who are unhoused have been described. But to Rector Scott Parnell of Christ Episcopal Church, who has advocated fiercely for greater awareness of the challenges such people face in our communities, there is a simpler, more authentic term people should take to heart:
Human.
“We must see the human — we must cherish, consider each person sacred. This is where we start. We are all Binghamtonians, not housed and unhoused,” Parnell said. “We must choose love, because perfect love casts out fear … especially when we are dealing with the unknown.”
The brutal beating of an unhoused man in downtown Binghamton has, in a sense, marked the crescendo of the past couple of weeks in the community, in which the city has conducted sweeps of riverbank encampments and local advocates and churches have gathered to marshal a network of resources to help those in need.
For advocates like Parnell, the case involving five teenagers — four of whom have been charged with attempted murder — who are accused of leaving the victim lying on the sidewalk in critical condition speaks to a broader problem of dehumanization.
According to police, the five teens attacked the man as part of a social media trend in which unhoused or drug addicted people are targeted.
In Parnell’s experience, much of the stigma associated with unhoused people isn’t very complicated. It revolves around a lack of understanding. If we don’t take the time to identify if the fear we feel is warranted, he believes, then people will find themselves in a situation where “fear leads to hate, and hate leads to violence.”
What happened in Binghamton on April 27
The City of Binghamton Police Department said a 45-year-old man was attacked around 9:30 p.m. April 27 while walking near Henry and Carroll streets. He was found unconscious, lying on the sidewalk, displaying signs of medical crisis and serious injuries to his head and body.
On the morning of May 1, police had not identified the victim or updated his medical status. A GoFundMe page created by Dianne Galliher identified her son, Peter Bennedum, as the victim and said he “will be removed from life support in the next few days.”
As of April 29, two 15-year-old boys and two 14-year-old boys had been charged with felony counts of attempted second-degree murder. The 13-year-old boy was released to his guardian, but criminal charges were anticipated to be filed as the investigation continued.
‘There have been too many.’
It’s not the first time concerns have been raised about these kinds of attacks. In an April 29 Facebook post, Jeffery Carlson pointed to an incident he said happened two years ago.
At a June 2024 Binghamton City Council meeting, Carlson, who at the time identified himself as unhoused, said he witnessed an attack by kids who “bloodied” two men at the Greyhound Bus Station, which faces Henry Street. Later, the same group of kids followed him down Court Street around 2 a.m. and attacked him, he recalled.
“They kept saying it was isolated instances,” Carlson said in his recent Facebook post, alluding to his attempt to report what happened to authorities.
In a May 1 Facebook post, Binghamton City Councilwoman and housing advocate Rebecca Rathmell said this summer will mark 20 years of her working with unhoused people and families in Binghamton.
“I wish I could say honestly that I remember the name and face of every unhoused human I’ve known who has succumbed to life on the street – by assault or exposure or deprivation or loneliness… But I can’t,” she said. “There have been too many. I grieve for that too.”
Rathmell hosted a resource training session April 23 with the Coalition of Congregations in Binghamton. Gathered at Christ Episcopal Church, community members, six congregations and government representatives came together to learn how to guide people through the process of accessing emergency assistance and obtaining required documentation.
The idea for the training session came up during the March CCB meeting after the participating congregations began to list the services and resources happening within each institution, and after an April 20 encampment sweep along the downtown riverbank.
City of Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham said in an April 27 Facebook post the riverbank was cleared out because such encampments “create public health issues, put first responders at risk and add to the workload of our already busy sanitation crews.”
While Kraham said the city coordinated with homeless outreach organizations for help connecting those living on the riverbank with relocation assistance and other critical services, the CCB’s goal is to foster and advance the “well-being, dignity and respect” for unhoused people and combine their services from each congregation to create a well-oiled machine for dismantling the unhoused crisis.
Rathmell said at the session “knowing about those resources and knowing how to access those resources and for whom are two different things.”
Though they are not close to rebuilding the system, Rathmell said she hopes “someday it no longer exists.”
‘Binghamton, we have a problem’
An avalanche of social media posts expressing powerful emotions, from grief to outrage, followed swiftly after police announced details of the attack.
“Binghamton, we have a problem,” Councilwoman Kinya Middleton bluntly stated in a Facebook post. Middleton added that, as an elected official, she felt “personally responsible” for the problem facing the city and the comments she’s seen on social media indicate that members of the community share that responsibility as well.
“Somewhere along the way, we have become judgmental and have lost our grace and empathy,” Middleton said. “I promise to advocate for programs that benefit our youth and support our houseless individuals because we definitely need them.”
But through the cloud of social media commentary, something else emerged: plans for the community to assemble for a May 5 candlelight vigil at the site of the attack, and an outpouring of donations to a GoFundMe to cover the funeral expenses for Peter Bennedum (his identity has not been officially confirmed by police).
In less than a day, the community has raised $16,745 to cover “transportation, funeral home and cemetery fees, obituary and death certificates, flowers, and clergy fees,” according to the GoFundMe, quickly surpassing the original goal.
Beneath the aloft American flag in Kennedy Park on May 1, a small memorial display had quietly been created for the public to see.
Three bouquets of white, pink and purple flowers wrapped in clear plastic sat atop the pole’s concrete base. An open pizza box on the ground had been turned on its side, blocking the wind. Arranged in front of it were a few burned votive candles, loose white and pink roses and a Dunkin’ coffee cup.
Kalyn Grant reports on public service issues for the Press & Sun-Bulletin, focusing on schools and community impact. Have a story to share? Follow her on Instagram @KalynCarmen and on Facebook under Kalyn Kearney. Get in touch at KCGrant@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Unhoused man brutally attacked in Binghamton speaks to larger problem
Reporting by Kalyn Grant, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
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