Seth Higgins: An assault on a SEPTA Bus — and what it reveals about modern politics

Gen Z is the first generation to develop a native slang entirely at ease with our internet saturated culture. For Millennials like me, the internet was a key part of our childhood and adolescence, but not entirely so. By the time I graduated high school, most of my classmates had cellphones but not smartphones, so we weren’t terminally online. 

Because of this, the seemingly impenetrable terminology of the rising generation has something to say about our present moment. 

This came to mind when one main character assaulted another main character while NPCs filled in the background.

Don’t worry if you’re not keeping up, because I’m not sure if you’re supposed to in our digital age. I’ll try to explain anyway.

Frank Scales, Philadelphia’s rising Gen Z right-wing provocateur, was confronted and subsequently pepper-sprayed on a SEPTA bus earlier this week by Paulina Reyes, a student at the Community College of Philadelphia and former intern at WHYY.

The motive for this attack was almost certainly political, so it is important to understand Frank’s growing role in Philadelphia’s discourse.

Frank’s method is simple. He attends far-left rallies, film crew in tow, and attempts to engage protesters in man-on-the-street-style interviews. Eventually, someone is foolish enough to take the offer and, with a little goading from Frank, the protester usually makes a mockery of himself. Other times, and with shocking frequency, “protesters” become enraged at Frank’s presence and initiate physical confrontations with Frank and his crew. I use protesters here advisedly, because protesting is a constitutionally protected activity. Shoving people you don’t like in front of City Hall is not.

At least that’s what we see splashed across social media. If chat forums are to be believed (a big if, I know), most protesters know Frank is looking to make viral content, so he’s usually ignored. When it comes to media and online virality, though, what doesn’t happen doesn’t matter.

I don’t share Frank’s methods of political engagement, but we are free to disagree with others’ free speech. And while his style is not my own, it is undoubtedly effective. Frank’s presence expanded rapidly in the past year. Never underestimate the power of image and narrative.

The growing influence of Frank and his ability to form unflattering narratives has been noticed by Philadelphia’s far-left, who feel entitled to this city’s politics and the descriptions surrounding it.

Which brings us to the confrontation on the SEPTA bus.

I encourage you to watch the full video of the incident. The article published by WHYY is also a fair and complete account of the events. In short, Frank and his cameraman were riding a bus when they were confronted by Paulina. Frank and Paulina apparently were students together at the Community College of Philadelphia and Paulina does not approve of Frank’s tactics and rhetoric.

We don’t see the lead-up to the incident, but Paulina aggressively confronts Frank then tries to yank the smartphone from his hand while hurling insults at him. This back-and-forth continues until Paulina attempts to pepper-spray Frank, who dodges the stream. Meanwhile, Frank is smirking throughout the episode. Good content is good content, after all.

Paulina storms off the SEPTA bus, only to jump back on. This time, she successfully lands a pepper-spray blast in Frank’s face before she runs off.

Paulina and Frank are at the heart of the action. Coincidentally, Gen Z has a term for those that act as though they are the star of their own movie: main character syndrome. This is a particularly useful description for people who film themselves for social media as though the world revolves around them.

Although we have established the main characters, is something else missing? This was a SEPTA bus in the middle of the day, so other people were onboard!

Gen Z has a term for folks like that, too: non-player characters, or NPCs for short. In essence, these are the characters that fill out the background of a video game.

But these aren’t characters. These are real people whose safety was jeopardized when Paulina unleashed two streams of pepper-spray onto a crowded bus.

This complete lack of concern for others comes across in an interview Paulina provided The Inquirer about the incident. She says, “I got mad and I wanted to defend myself because he wasn’t listening. I did what I thought was the safest thing to protect myself. I pepper sprayed him in the face.”

If this woman was anymore self-centered, a black hole would form in Philadelphia. To people like this, politics is an extension of oneself.  Who needs “We the People” when we can have “Me, Myself, and I?”

All this to say, contemporary politics isn’t about everyday Americans. Rather, its energy is devoted to small bands of radicals that battle for an ever greater share of our attention.

I am sick of it. I spend my time worrying about issues like safety, taxes, and the quality and reliability of public infrastructure. I suspect you do, too. This is why we have democratic politics in this country, not so we can fulfill the needs of those who demand we notice them.

I’ve made it clear that Frank’s tactics aren’t my thing, but my rights depend on the ability of others to exercise those same rights. This is especially true for those I disagree with. And if people don’t like Frank’s content, they are free to ignore it.

On a final point, Frank, Paulina, and those on the bus with them are not characters, main or otherwise. They are human beings. Gen Z might have something to say about the digital age, but the pixels on your screen represent actual people. We all would do well to remind ourselves of that.

Seth Higgins is a native of Saint Marys, Pennsylvania. He currently resides in Philadelphia.