The director of Green Street Hooligans has sparked fierce backlash after appearing to celebrate the death of Erin Piacenti, a 32-year-old Bank of America executive and new mother who was fatally stabbed in New York City’s Times Square.

Filmmaker Lexi Alexander, a German-Palestinian-American director known for Green Street Hooligans and Punisher: War Zone, shared a post on X following reports of Piacenti’s death. The post included a meme featuring Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York in 2024.

The timing of the post quickly attracted attention because Piacenti had not been accused of any wrongdoing herself. She was simply caught in what authorities described as a random and unprovoked knife attack in one of Manhattan’s busiest areas.

The attack happened on August 31 near West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue. Police said a woman armed with two large knives first attacked a 68-year-old man before turning on Piacenti. Both victims were taken to the hospital, but Piacenti died from her injuries. The male victim survived and was reported to be in stable condition.

The suspect was identified as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros. According to police, officers confronted her shortly after the stabbing. She refused commands to drop the knives and continued advancing toward officers. After an unsuccessful attempt to subdue her with a stun gun, officers sH๏τ her. She later died. Authorities have said Cisneros had a documented history of mental-health problems, while investigators have continued examining the circumstances surrounding the attack.

Piacenti’s death was particularly devastating to her family because she had only recently returned to work following approximately five months of maternity leave. She and her husband, Frank, had welcomed their daughter, Madison, earlier this year and had recently purchased a home in Chester, New Jersey. Piacenti was also a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Fordham Law School and worked as a vice president in Bank of America’s Business Selection and Conflicts group.

That personal background has intensified criticism of Alexander’s social-media activity. Rather than focusing on the circumstances surrounding the suspect or debating corporate policy, critics argued that invoking Mangione in response to the death of an employee appeared to turn a tragedy involving an innocent mother into a political statement.

Alexander subsequently defended her position online and linked the controversy to Bank of America’s relationship with Israel. She also dismissed some of the criticism directed toward her as being connected to pro-Israel online activity.

The episode has consequently become part of a broader and increasingly heated debate over how political grievances are expressed following acts of violence. Mangione became a controversial cultural figure after being accused of killing Thompson in December 2024, with his case generating intense reactions across social media.

For Piacenti’s family, however, the circumstances are much more immediate and personal. She was a young wife and mother whose life ended unexpectedly while walking through Midtown Manhattan.

Her death has left behind a five-month-old daughter, a grieving husband and a family now attempting to preserve her memory while the investigation into the Times Square attack continues.