You may recall the story of Jose Alba, the 61-year-old New York City bodega worker who was attacked by a violent ex-felon and wound up stabbing his attacker to death. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg quickly filed murder charges against Alba and had him locked up at Rikers Island. Bragg declined to press charges against the felon’s girlfriend who had joined in the attack and stabbed Alba. The ensuing outrage made headlines around the nation, reinforcing Bragg’s reputation as a DA who serves criminals instead of the public. Now, after weeks of controversy, Bragg has relented and dropped the charges against Alba.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has finally moved to drop the controversial murder charge filed against bodega worker Jose Alba, his office confirmed Monday.
The DA’s office said it had filed a motion in Manhattan Criminal Court to dismiss the case against the 61-year-old bodega worker after a investigation found they couldn’t prove the “defendant was not justified in his use of deadly physical force.”
Bragg and his office had faced widespread backlash after Alba was swiftly charged with fatally stabbing 35-year-old violent ex-con, Austin Simon, who had attacked him inside the bodega on July 1.
This story remains remarkable in its awfulness. The entire incident was caught on a security camera and there was obviously no question as to what happened. Austin Simon’s girlfriend had attempted to make a purchase using a government debit card with no money left on it. When Alba declined to let her simply take the product without paying for it, she went and brought in her violent felon boyfriend who came behind the counter and attacked Alba. He had no path to escape the attack so he fought back, fatally stabbing Simon.
Even though Bragg finally bowed to public pressure and did the right thing, he was still unwilling to admit he had made a gross error in judgment. His office didn’t say that they had incorrectly charged the bodega worker who clearly acted in self-defense. They just said that they “couldn’t prove” that Alba wasn’t justified in his actions. But they clearly wanted to try to make that case and lock him up.
Alvin Bragg has long since passed the point where he behaves like some sort of cartoon parody of what the worst, most woke liberal prosecutor in the country would look like. He is not only failing to do his job but is actively working to do the opposite of his job. He is literally locking up law-abiding victims while refusing to prosecute criminals. Simon’s girlfriend should be in jail right now awaiting trial, but she is walking the streets, free as a bird and able to return to Alba’s bodega to attack him again.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has already held one private meeting with Bragg to discuss his job performance. She reportedly reminded him that New York’s state constitution empowers her to remove District Attorneys from office if they fail to execute their duties and enforce the law. It is long past the time when she needs to exercise that option in Bragg’s case. He’s not just making Manhattan into a legal laughing stock. He’s actually endangering residents’ lives and unleashing known, violent criminals back into the community.
Hochul is up for election in November. Her Republican opponent should be bringing up Alvin Bragg at every campaign event he holds and tying him to Hochul with the shortest leash possible. She has the power to stop Bragg from causing more damage and her refusal to do so makes her equally culpable in what happened to Jose Alba. The voters need to be reminded of this ugly fact at every opportunity.
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