New York Republicans are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) to remove Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for refusing to seek bail for several migrants suspected of attacking two NYPD officers last week.
State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt and 19 other state senators sent a letter to Hochul on Tuesday, writing that Bragg’s “unconscionable handling of the recent attack on two NYPD officers by a gang of migrants outside a Times Square shelter must be the final straw.”
Hochul denounced the decision from Bragg’s office to decline to set bail for multiple suspects in the case. The governor called the incident an “abhorrent act” during an appearance on MSNBC on Tuesday, adding she believes several of the suspects left the state on a bus to California.
Republicans have long called Bragg soft on crime, accusing him of having a poor prosecution rate. Bragg spent his first year in office on the defensive after he defended bail reform in a memo in early 2022 and implied he would downgrade some felonies, including robberies, to misdemeanors. He issued new guidance and clarification after the memo that prompted a wave of attacks against his progressive policies.
“From the moment he took office, DA Bragg has thumbed his nose at crime victims, turned his back on the police and has selectively prosecuted criminals for political reasons only. His incredibly poor judgment is matched only by his unwillingness to take criminals off the streets,” the letter said.
“It is clear that DA Bragg has no interest in prosecuting criminals and no desire to support law enforcement, which in turn, makes New Yorkers less safe,” the state senators wrote. “We need a District Attorney that will enforce the law and do what is necessary to not only get the criminals off the streets, but also send the message that lawlessness will not be tolerated.”
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New York authorities say some 13 people were involved in attacking two NYPD officers in front of a migrant shelter on 42nd Street in Times Square last week. Bragg did not request bail for five other suspects charged in the case, and several reports say they fled to California.
During a press conference on Monday, Mayor Eric Adams said most of the 175,000 migrants and asylum-seekers who have come to New York City are law-abiding, so “any New Yorker that looks at those who are trying to fulfill their next step on the American dream as criminals, that is wrong.”
