Also (unable to edit my original reply now) - I'm not saying this stuff shouldn't be dealt with in public. If the appropriate private channels haven't addressed

Also (unable to edit my original reply now) - I'm not saying this stuff shouldn't be dealt with in public. If the appropriate private channels haven't addressed the wrongdoing, your right to go public should absolutely be exercised if the victim is okay with all the unpleasantness that usually entails. I'm just saying the public they go to needs to be a bit more pragmatic and fair than lynching a person they assume did something they don't like (or on the contrary, turning a blind eye because of politics that sway them the other way). The problem is the way people react, not the fact that it was taken public. Private channels should have worked too - that's also a problem.