After Trump announced he believed he would be arrested by Alvin Bragg’s office on Tuesday, his representative called the district attorney a ‘George Soros-funded Radical Left Democrat prosecutor,’ but just who is Manhattan’s controversial DA?
The Harvard educated lawyer, 49, joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in 2021, becoming the first African-American to hold the title.
Setting himself part from his predecessors, he quickly instituted a ‘soft on crime’ policy that saw New York City become a blood-soaked hellhole.
Transit crimes skyrocketed above 50 percent – including a mass shooting and several shoved onto train tracks – and a bodega clerk was infamously charged with murder after he defended himself from a robber.
Almost immediately, Bragg was met with massive criticism over his lax bail law, which saw many criminals repeatedly go in and out of the system without prosecution, allowing them to continuously terrorize New Yorkers.
The law is imposed by the state, but Bragg initially fought back against attempts to weaken it.
Even Mayor Eric Adams, who promises New Yorkers he would crack down on crime that had risen during the pandemic, criticized him, as well as State Governor Kathy Hochul.
Alvin Bragg, 49, has been massively criticized for his soft on crime policies, which he has since walked back on, which saw career criminals running the streets and New Yorkers afraid of being attacked
Adams later revealed that just 10 criminals were responsible for nearly 500 crimes in the city, laying the blame for the repeated offending at Bragg’s door. The announcement came with a rally call to judges and the legislature to do-away with laxed bail reforms that are putting more violent criminals back on the street.
He told of how the 20120 reforms, ushered in under Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, now made it impossible for criminals to be jailed.
At his press conference, Adams, a former cop, fumed: ‘You have to work really hard to get to Rikers right now. To get there, you did something that is really bad.’
In addition, Adams and Bragg received criticism after six police officers were shot within the first few weeks in office.
He faced significant backlash after he charged shopkeeper Jose Alba, 61, with murder after he was attacked on July 1 by 35-year-old Austin Simon
Alba defended himself and in the ensuing fight Simon was stabbed to death and the bodega worker was charged
On July 19, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office asked a judge to drop the charges Alba after having faced intense backlash, including criticism from the city’s mayor
Many violent crimes, such as robberies and gun possession charges, became less strict, but after a year in office, Bragg was forced to walk back on his soft on crime policy.
Alvin Bragg sent out a February 2022 memo to all his staff making it clear that any crime involving a firearm would be prosecuted as a felony — reversing the stance he took just a month ago.
‘Gun possession cases are a key part of our plan for public safety,’ Bragg wrote in his memo.
‘People walking the streets with guns will be prosecuted and held accountable. The default in gun cases is a felony prosecution,’ he added.
The move by Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, was in direct contradiction to the position he laid out in a memo on his first full day on the job.
Then he said armed robbery charges would be reduced to misdemeanors if the firearm did not ‘create a genuine risk of physical harm.’
Bragg has now changed his tune, saying robberies at knifepoint on commercial businesses would also be charged as felonies if there was a real threat.
He even faced criticized from his fellow New York politicians, Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul, who opposed his bail laws that were letting criminals back out. Adams campaigned for a safer New York and cracking down on crime while running for mayor
Crimes have significantly dropped in the city since the start of 2023, with violent crimes currently down 0.2 percent compared to the same time last year. However, for a significant part of 2022, New Yorkers remember when it was up as high as 40 percent and they were begging for officers in subway stations and for bail to be reinstatement
But shoplifting, he said, would be judged on a case-by-case basis ‘based on all the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented.’
He faced significant backlash after he charged shopkeeper Jose Alba, 61, with murder after he was attacked on July 1 by 35-year-old Austin Simon. Alba defended himself and in the ensuing fight Simon was stabbed to death and the bodega worker was charged.
On July 19, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office asked a judge to drop the charges Alba after having faced intense backlash, including criticism from the city’s mayor.
Alba, who had faced a second-degree murder charge, was working at the Blue Moon deli on July 1 when he fatally stabbed Simon in the neck and chest.
Surveillance footage clearly showed that Simon had moved behind the counter at the convenience store in Hamilton Heights and pushed the store clerk into a stack of shelves before grabbing him.
It was only then that Alba reached over to a shelf and pulled out a knife to fight back.
During the altercation, Alba was apparently stabbed by Simon’s girlfriend, who instigated the argument when her benefits card was declined. The girlfriend was never charged in the incident.
The motion to dismiss stated that prosecutors ‘have determined that we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not justified in his use of deadly physical force.’
In February 2022, Bragg walked back on his soft on crime policies and reinstated several crimes to be felonies again
The filing said that ‘a homicide case against Alba could not be proven at trial beyond a reasonable doubt’ and that the case will not be presented to a grand jury.
Alba’s attacker had prior convictions.
Crimes have significantly dropped in the city since the start of 2023, with violent crimes currently down 0.2 percent compared to the same time last year.
However, for a significant part of 2022, New Yorkers remember when it was up as high as 40 percent and they were begging for officers in subway stations and for bail to be reinstatement.
Now, his name is back in the mix after Trump declared on Truth Social that Bragg’s office was planning on arresting him on Tuesday over claims he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair.
Prosecutors inside DA Alvin Bragg’s office told The New York Times they didn’t know why Trump thought his arrest would happen as early as Tuesday. Insiders said there is still one more witness to testify before a grand jury, which could delay his potential arrest.
Now, his name is back in the mix after Trump declared on Truth Social that Bragg’s office was planning on arresting him on Tuesday over claims he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair
A source close to Trump’s advisors told the Times their best guess was Tuesday and someone must have relayed that to the Republican before he took to Truth Social to make his claims.
Others have speculated that Trump may simply be trying to get ahead of the news cycle, and dull the impact of any arrest.
‘There has been no notification, other than illegal leaks from the Justice Dept. and the DA’s office, to NBC and other fake news carriers, that the George Soros-funded Radical Left Democrat prosecutor in Manhattan has decided to take his Witch-Hunt to the next level,’ a spokesperson for Trump told DailyMail.com in a statement.
‘President Trump is rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system. He will be in Texas next weekend for a giant rally. Make America Great Again!’
His claims come more than six years after Trump’s lawyers paid Daniels a total of $130,000 to keep quiet about the affair, with New York prosecutors considering if he should face charges. Trump denies the affair and knowledge of the payments.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
