The Stabbing of Ryan Carson meme stems from CCTV footage of a tragic incident in Brooklyn in October 2023 involving activist Ryan Carson. While the event was a serious crime, the image of Carson standing before his assailant became a focal point for intense online debate regarding urban safety and political ideologies. On social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), users adapted the still image into a meme template to illustrate scenarios involving confrontation, the failure of idealism, or the harsh collision between theory and reality. It is primarily used in political contexts or to comment on the complexities of modern social issues.