And people donate to get parks built, largely for the plaque with their name on it.
At the end of the day, the public still gets a park. Good has been done.
Fixating on motivates is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There aren't "good people" or "bad people". There are just people, and motives are almost always mixed.
The people who are smearing this kid are acting worse than the kid himself. I'll drink your downvotes. Yes, I think you're being nastier than the kid, who was doing some boring grifting.
He was unemphatic, but you're being downright cruel. "Vile scam artist" "TikTok douche". He's a human being, and what he did was wrong, but I nevertheless think he's morally superior to most of you, who are dehumanizing him much more thoroughly than he dehumanized the woman.
His behavior was bad, and yours is worse.