Where Self-Defense Turns into a Charge of Murder A progressive tale in NYC.Joseph Klein
New York City has become a haven for mentally ill and drug-addicted homeless people who live on the streets and in the subways, free to menace the general public. Dangerous criminals are released repeatedly after their arrest with no bail requirement, free to resume preying on innocent victims. There are less police officers available to protect public safety, thanks to reckless cuts in the New York Police Department budget and the departure of police officers in droves who were tired of working in a hostile environment. And New Yorkers have to walk on eggshells when it comes to defending themselves against a criminal attack. Manhattan’s radical progressive pro-criminal district attorney believes that self-defense can be charged as murder.
Just recently, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged a bodega worker with murder for defending himself with a knife against an unprovoked attack by an ex-con that resulted in the assailant’s death. Meanwhile, the assailant’s girlfriend has escaped all charges whatsoever for stabbing the bodega worker because, prosecutors said, she was only trying to help her boyfriend fight back against the bodega worker.
Bragg may be backtracking on the murder charge after speaking on July 12th with city bodega owners who are pressuring him to reverse course. However, the fact that Bragg would even consider filing a murder charge in the first place speaks volumes about his perverse priorities. The radical progressive district attorney has sent New Yorkers the message that they should think twice before fighting back in self-defense. Bragg has compounded this message by supporting efforts in New York to continue limiting law-abiding residents from carrying guns outside their homes for self-defense because “more guns in our communities make us less safe.”
More dangerous criminals on the loose who are in possession of illegal guns make us less safe, not legal guns in the hands of law-abiding people. District Attorney Bragg would rather let dangerous criminals back on the streets where they can obtain illegal guns on the black market and continue jeopardizing public safety. But he does not hesitate to go after a crime victim for defending himself.
As a New York Post editorial put it:
“Thanks to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York is a city turned upside down. Get caught with an illegal gun, get released without bail. Shove an elderly person to the ground, attack someone because they are Asian, a slap on the wrist. Shoplift again . . . and again . . . and again . . . nothing. But defend yourself and your place of business from a man who attacks you, and Bragg sends you to Rikers.”
Here is another example of progressive madness in New York’s criminal justice system that has turned New York City upside down. Two suspected Mexican drug-cartel smugglers were apprehended with their horde of $1.2 million worth of crystal meth while trying to make two drug deliveries. They were then promptly released with no cash bail requirement. That is because crystal meth is considered a controlled substance in New York, not a narcotic, and the charge of second-degree possession of a controlled substance carries no bail requirement under New York State’s progressive criminal-friendly bail “reform” law.
“This is a serious problem,” New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan told the New York Post. “At the time the bail laws were changed, New York City was not a distribution hub for methamphetamine. Now it is, and we are unable to even ask for bail, even if we arrest someone with no ties to the city and a load worth millions of dollars,” she said.
New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul has permitted the madness that has taken over New York City’s criminal justice system to get worse. She has the power to remove District Attorney Bragg from office but has refused to do so. Governor Hochul has managed to secure only minor modifications in New York State’s outrageous bail “reform” law that has given so many repeat criminals a free get-out-of-jail card. And New York’s feckless governor refuses to say where she stands on legislation that would end qualified immunity for police officers in civil suits alleging misconduct, which New York City insanely ended last year.
New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams has talked a good game about combating the alarming rise in violent crimes plaguing the city. He also expressed his support for the bodega worker charged with murder by District Attorney Bragg but refused to criticize Bragg for bringing the charge in the first place. Instead of refusing to “second guess” Bragg, the mayor should call for his removal and replacement with a district attorney who is not soft on criminals and who understands that self-defense, even with deadly force, is not a crime.
According to a Spectrum News NY1/Siena College survey published in June, violent crime is the top concern of an overwhelming number of New York City residents. Seventy-six percent of New Yorkers surveyed said they were “concerned that they will be a victim of violent crime,” according to the survey results.
Nevertheless, for some unexplained reason, New York City’s emergency management agency decided to put out a public service announcement on July 12th giving advice to New Yorkers about how to survive a nuclear attack. The agency advised New Yorkers to get inside a building, secure the doors and windows, and stay inside. Although hardly likely to protect New Yorkers against the devastation of a nuclear attack, staying off the streets is certainly one way to avoid dangerous encounters with violent criminals. Even staying inside, however, won’t protect New Yorkers against home invasions.
Most New Yorkers are not very worried about a nuclear attack these days. They are worried about surviving in the madhouse created by reckless progressive government policies that have caused violent crime to become the new normal.
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