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A Phil Hall Op-Ed: Do you realize that if Peanut the Squirrel was a member of Tren de Aragua, not only would he be alive today but he’d also be given a housing voucher, free healthcare, free schooling for his children and the mainstream media insisting that he wasn’t engaged in criminal activities?

Of course, I’m being facetious. But the handling of two very different tragedies – a state government agency’s murder of a defenseless animal and the enabling of a Venezuelan crime gang’s presence in the United States – offers a stark contrast of political priorities.

For those who are not aware of the Peanut the Squirrel story, here is a summary. Last Wednesday, six agents from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) showed up unannounced at the animal sanctuary in a tiny upstate New York village run by Mark Longo, a former mechanical engineer. Seven years ago, Longo rescued a baby squirrel from the streets of New York City – the animal’s mother was killed by a car and would have perished without Longo’s intervention. Longo took the squirrel back to his home in Connecticut and nursed it until he felt it was ready to be reintroduced to the wild. But the squirrel had no defensive mechanisms and returned to Longo’s home after being attacked by another animal. Thus, the squirrel was given permanent shelter at Longo’s residence and never went outside again.

Longo named the squirrel Peanut, and the little critter grew into a playful and loving companion. A video of Peanut became a surprise hit online and over the next seven years Longo shared more videos of Peanut, growing an Instagram following of a half-million along with thousands of additional fans via TikTok, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Peanut’s prominence enabled Longo to successfully fundraise for the creation of a nonprofit animal sanctuary, and he moved to upstate New York to provide shelter for additional animals that suffered from maltreatment and illness. Longo also applied for a permit to present Peanut as an educational animal for teaching children about animal welfare.

Last Wednesday, NYSDEC’s six agents showed up at Longo’s animal sanctuary claiming that the agency received anonymous complaints about Peanut and another animal, an abandoned young raccoon that Longo named Fred who was being nursed back to health. State law said that wild animals cannot be kept as pets – never mind that both animals would face death if thrown into the woods. Both animals were seized – Longo stated the agents ransacked his home for hours and even asked about the immigration status of his German-born wife (which is not the domain of an agency focused on “environmental conservation”). Two days later, Longo learned through media reports that Peanut was euthanized by NYSDEC, which claimed without evidence that he bit an agent and needed to be tested for rabies – ignoring the fact there is no case of any person ever contracting rabies from a squirrel. Fred the raccoon, who didn’t bit anyone, was also killed at the same time, apparently for no reason except that the NYSDEC could do it.

I tried to reach out via X to Sean Mahar, the interim commissioner at NYSDEC, for an explanation of what occurred. Mahar set his X account on “protected” – and so did nearly all the NYSDEC characters who may have played a role in this story. I tried to reach Mahar via LinkedIn, but he shut down that account. (NYSDEC also shut off the comments feature on its LinkedIn posts and took down its YouTube page.) I also sought the input of New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul – she has yet to say anything about this story, although she had time over the weekend to go on television and declare that anyone who doesn’t vote Democrat tomorrow is “anti-American.”

In fairness, the murder of Peanut is not the only story Hochul wants to ignore. Venezuela’s gift to miscreancy, Tren de Aragua, is staking its claim in New York and Hochul has done nothing to stop them.  And if you don’t believe me, listen to The New York Times (which is usually an apologist for Hochul and migrant crime).

Indeed, the migrant crime crisis coupled with the expenses created by housing, feeding and caring for these illegals has turned the Empire State into the Poor Empire State. The New York State Comptroller’s office plans to spend $4.3 billion between State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2022-23 through SFY 2025-26 on illegals – and emergency spending on this population totaled $1.3 billion through Sept. 30. Part of this aid involves free housing and the issuance of housing vouchers – yeah, American citizens are struggling to cover their housing costs, but illegals can waltz over the border and get free shelter. Does anyone in New York State genuinely believe this is acceptable, especially when the Comptroller’s office announced the state “continues to have a structural budget deficit, with a cumulative three-year budget gap of $13.9 billion forecasted by the Division of the Budget”?

Sadly, it feels like New York is turning into Aurora, Colorado, where local leadership (coupled with input by the state’s buffoonish governor) insisted that Tren de Aragua did not take over apartment complexes despite video evidence clearly showing rifle-toting gang members breaking down apartment doors and threatening tenants. Even better, most of the mainstream media – the ones that tilt to the left – are pretending this is not a crisis. Or as ABC News’ Martha Raddatz insisted, it’s only “incidents [that] were limited to a handful of apartment complexes.” Relax, it’s okay – as long as it is just a handful of apartment complexes, Venezuelan crime gangs are an acceptable new normal in our country.

A squirrel and a raccoon living in a private residence get the death penalty, but illegals who commit crimes get a pass? Seriously, what’s wrong with this picture?

As a reminder, this is strictly my opinion, hence the “Phil Hall Op-Ed” title. You are welcome to disagree – and contrary to Hochul, I don’t think you’re anti-American if you disagree with me.

Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News.

Photo courtesy of Mark Longo