He was having a very bad day. So he allegedly killed a stranger.

It sounds like Meursault in Albert Camus’ novel “The Stranger.”  Meursault is in jail for murdering an Arab for no reason when he says, “Since we’re all going to die, it’s obvious that when and how don’t matter.” That’s nihilism — the belief that there’s no reason for anything. It’s all brute chance.

Art mimics life. A young man identified as Brian Dowling, 18, was walking down a New York City street, when, for no reason, he allegedly decided to Murder 31-year-old poet and social activist Ryan Carson with a knife, according to Fox News. Surveillance video showed the man identified as Dowling doubling back to spit in the face of Carson’s girlfriend Claudia Morales before leaving the scene. But, according to Dowling’s lawyer, his client is a “good” kid who wasn’t out “looking for trouble.”

If the alleged murderer wasn’t looking for trouble, what was he looking for, something to plug up the bottomless pit in the center of his being? Revenge for being born? A thrill?

The video of the senseless murder video showed Carson and Morales sitting on a bench on Lafayette Avenue near Malcolm X Boulevard just before 4 a.m. Monday morning. They had just attended a wedding and were dressed in formal attire. They sat there, talking and minding their own business.

WARNING: The following video contains language and violent images that viewers may find disturbing.

📺 Embedded media — coming soon

Advertisement

A man walked by. The couple stood and began walking in the same direction at a fair distance. They weren’t crowding the man.

Suddenly, the stranger — whom police identified in the video as Dowling — suddenly kicked over some scooters before reeling around to face Carson. He yelled, “What the f*** are you looking at? I’ll kill you!” as he approached the couple.

Carson, to protect his girlfriend, stepped between her and the man. He raised a hand, saying, “Chill! Chill!”

The aggressor produced a knife. Carson, backing away from him, tripped and fell. The assailant stabbed Carson multiple times, mortally wounding him. He then turned on Morales and spit in her face before kicking Carson as he lay dying on the sidewalk.

By the time Morales could kneel next to her boyfriend and call 911, Carson was dead, according to Fox.

Kenneth Montgomery, Dowling’s attorney told Fox, “It’s pretty clear when you look at the video, he wasn’t out there looking for trouble but was in the middle of an episode, and in that episode, things unfolded.”

“That person had anger issues, and it spilled into something else,” Montgomery claimed.  “I do know this young man comes from a good family, and I can’t imagine him not being remorseful for something like this if the facts are what they say they are … He is a great kid, but clearly may have some mental health issues.”

Advertisement

The facts are the facts. Dowling appears to have murdered Carson. When Dowling was arrested Thursday, he was seen sobbing as he sat in a police cruiser, tears rolling down his face.

So Dowling “may have” mental issues and may feel remorseful for allegedly killing an innocent stranger. Is that supposed to excuse these actions in any way? Is that a defense?

It was Saint Thomas Aquinas who wrote, “Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution; justice without mercy is cruelty.”  What are are witnessing in Dowling’s case — and far too many others — is the dissolution of Western morality.  This opens the door to nihilism.

The story doesn’t end there. Ryan Carson’s “friends” are doing their best to capitalize on his Murder. They created a GoFundMe page to raise money for Carson’s bereaved girlfriend — and themselves.

📺 Embedded media — coming soon

“Hi everyone,” the page reads. “We are a collective of Ryan’s close friends, reeling from a brutal loss. We are asking for your help on behalf of his partner in easing the burden and stress of this horrifying situation so that we can have space and time to grieve, and remember Ryan.” Judging by the next sentence, the emphasis is on we: “Immediate needs are to offset the costs of working class people taking time off of work to properly mourn.”

Who tries to make money off the senseless murder of a friend so they can “properly mourn?” Are they planning on having the mourning party catered? Have we become so crass that everything is seen as a marketing opportunity? Is there nothing else?

Far too many people are walking around with nothing to believe in. It’s sad.

Justice isn’t a thing. It’s a quality. Without justice — tempered by mercy — there can be no quality of life, because life loses meaning. May God have mercy on us all.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.