OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Things continue to go from bad to worse for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on Monday morning with witnesses that are speaking on the impact of soft-on-crime policies by district attorneys, including Bragg, on New Yorkers. In what will be a brutal blow to Bragg, a Democratic New York City councilman plans to testify that Bragg has contributed to the “lawlessness” across the city.
Councilman Robert Holden, who has served as the representative for the 30th district since 2018, identified himself as a Democrat and a lifelong resident of New York. Holden admitted to having “issues” with Bragg since his appointment as DA in 2022. According to Holden, the crime rate in New York City has increased “because of Bragg.”
“When Bragg came in, he issued that ridiculous edict that he was not going to prosecute smaller crimes,” Holden said. “What do we have in New York City? We have lawlessness on the streets. I have never seen the lawlessness we are seeing now.”
At the hearing, a New York City Bodega clerk who was charged with murder for stabbing an assailant in self-defense spoke about his harrowing case.
A Manhattan judge dismissed the murder charge in 2022 against Jose Alba.
“Just like any other day. I took pride and the hard work I put in every day at the store to earn my own money and support myself and my family. That is when I encountered a true and real threat to my life. After I simply told a woman that she could not have potato chips, because her payment was declined, I was face to face with her boyfriend, who seemed ready to kill me. He attacked me violently threw me around the store. The woman stabbed me herself,” Alba said.
“I truly believed they were there to kill me. So faced with this, I did what I knew I had to do to save my life. What the law — what the law allows me to do to save my life. I stabbed that man in self-defense. But when the police came, even though I was injured myself, I was placed under arrest. I was taken to jail. When I came before the judge, the prosecutor said I was being charged with murder in the second degree. They asked for bail, even though so many people are being let go these days, and I couldn’t afford it. So I went to Rikers Island, I was forced into a crowded and unsafe intake cell. Even though I was injured in jail, I didn’t get the medical treatment I should have received. I spent almost a week in Rikers Island before bail was lowered and I could be released. I was forced to endure the harsh conditions on Rikers Island as an innocent man. I still don’t know why I was charged with murder. I believe that law enforcement and the DA’s office didn’t investigate the case fully,” he continued.
“They rushed the judgment and I suffered because of it. Even though the charges were ultimately dropped, they should not have been brought against me to begin with. I am now traumatized from the incident. I am not working because I’m terrified for my life, that someone in the gang will come after me for revenge. I was injured physically and mentally because of the incident and my unlawful arrest and incarceration. My story is one that should not happen again,” Alba added.
He concluded: “Crime does not discriminate on the basis of a political party. It needs to be addressed by law enforcement on the street and by prosecutors in the court. But it has to be aimed at the people committing crime, not an innocent man like me. And the next time an innocent man does nothing but protect their own life and self-defense from a violent attack, they should not be made the villain, but instead treated with care and compassion as the victim.”
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