Pop icon Taylor Swift has one of the largest platforms in the world.
According to a November NBC News national poll, the multi-platinum-selling artist had the highest favorability rating among any public figure polled, including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, new House Speaker Mike Johnson, former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, NBC reported.
The 12-time Grammy award-winning artist has often used her platform to turn out the young vote and to support left-leaning lawmakers.
In the 2018 midterm elections, Swift endorsed two Democratic candidates in Tennessee races — Phil Bredesen for U.S. Senate and incumbent Rep. Jim Cooper running for re-election in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, according to NBC.
But failed policies pushed by the Democrat-led administration in New York may now be affecting Swift’s safety and ability to live without fear.
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A 33-year-old man from Seattle was arrested three times this week for allegedly stalking Swift at her Manhattan townhouse.
Today’s cover: Taylor Swift’s alleged stalker arrested for a third time after dumpster diving outside her NYC apartmenthttps://t.co/1wp879hxs8 pic.twitter.com/TSUXkBNDza
— New York Post (@nypost) January 25, 2024
The man, David Crowe, was first detained by police Saturday night for lurking suspiciously outside Swift’s Tribeca apartment building. He was released shortly after without being charged, according to WRC-TV.
However, Crowe returned to Swift’s residence on Monday evening, prompting another police response and his arrest on charges of stalking and harassment. Prosecutors allege he has appeared at Swift’s home over 30 times since late November, having been told repeatedly to leave by security personnel.
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According to the New York Post, a neighbor spotted him yet again rummaging through dumpsters outside Taylor Swift’s apartment building on Wednesday, just hours after he was released from court on stalking charges involving the same location.
Alarmed to see Crowe resume his lurking so soon after defying a judge’s orders, the neighbor added, “I can’t believe this guy is back! I just want to never see this person again.”
Taylor Swift’s alleged stalker just had his first day in court!
All we know. ➡️ https://t.co/MgTDJk97gA pic.twitter.com/nhNVfQ200l
— TMZ (@TMZ) January 25, 2024
According to the neighbor, Crowe has staked out Swift’s building since before Christmas, often sleeping on nearby stoops while chain smoking.
At the hearing, the Post reported that the large man wore a T-shirt with the words “Love Doesn’t Just Sit There Like A Stone” on the back — an ominous message that showed his lack of remorse.
Crowe’s persistence highlights gaps in New York stalking laws that experts say fail to contain obsessive behaviors before they escalate.
Criminal Defense attorney Jason Goldman told the New York Post, “New York’s felony stalking laws require showing repetitive convictions or use of a weapon against the victim, a very high bar.”
Goldman said that New York law “almost waits for a potentially deadly crime to be carried out as opposed to an effective ‘preventative anti-stalking’ statute.’”
“Mr. Crowe is precisely the type of person and type of scenario that stalking laws are made for so we don’t have another Rebecca Schaeffer on our hands,” Goldman told the Post.
Goldman was referring to actress Rebecca Shaeffer who was brutally murdered by a deranged stalker in 1989, which led to the passage of America’s first anti-stalking laws, according to ABC News.
Although New York Governor Kathy Hochul walked back some of the language of the restrictions placed on judges wishing to hold defendants in custody, Bronx Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey M. Zimmerman says that for judges, bail laws are “a confusing mess,” according to a 2023 op-ed published in Vital City.
“I used to sometimes say, when releasing a defendant on his own recognizance, that I was constrained to do so because ‘the Legislature doesn’t allow me to consider dangerousness.’ I now realize that language was imprecise; I should have said that ‘the Legislature doesn’t allow me to consider safety to the community,’” Zimmerman wrote.
Swift is one of the most recognizable names in the world, and her case has garnered public attention. But thousands of others throughout the city who have to deal with similar issues haven’t had such a spotlight cast on the real dangers posed by stalkers. While Swift has security measures average citizens lack, the persistence of obsessed stalkers like Crowe, even against celebrity defenses, displays gaping holes in the system to contain them.
As one police officer told the Post, “New York has had a catch and release program for years, people only notice now because it’s Taylor Swift.”
Hopefully, Swift’s high-profile case brings wider awareness to shortcomings in laws that fail to provide meaningful protections until stalking escalates to extremes. True reform should focus on victims rather than on the perpetrators.
Swift, with her expensive legal team and 24-7 security, may be able to “shake it off,” but she has an opportunity to use her voice to effect real change to help other victims who may not be as privileged as her.
