There may finally be a backlash brewing in New York City against the woke, soft-on-crime policies that have been put in place, even among Democrats. We’re not talking about the rank-and-file residents of the city, who have long been fed up with the crime wave. The current pushback is coming from both parties on the City Council and it’s being directed at the infamous Soros-backed DA Alvin Bragg. The unrest began after 46-year-old CVS clerk Scotty Enoe stabbed serial looter Charles Brito when the two got into an altercation over Brito’s latest attempt at looting the store. Brito died from the wound shortly thereafter. (NY Post)
New York City council members from both sides of the aisle blamed “lack of enforcement” after a CVS worker stabbed to death a serial shoplifter in Manhattan — a less than subtle dig at Manhattan’s liberal District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The furor erupted in the hours after Scotty Enoe, 46, fatally knifed serial thief Charles Brito, 50, after being punched early Thursday, making it the latest in a disturbing string of self-defense killings in recent months.
“I’m sorry the man died. But I cannot exist in a world where we pretend that endemic theft without consequence can continue in perpetuity,” fumed Minority Leader Joe Borelli on Friday.
It’s worth pointing out that Charles Brito was not some relatively innocent citizen who happened to be spotted pocketing a pack of cigarettes because he was short on cash that day. He had sixteen prior arrests, mostly for large-scale looting. In fact, he was awaiting a hearing on previous charges when he attempted the heist that wound up being his last. But Brito clearly knew that if he stole less than $1,000 in any given robbery, New York’s ridiculous bail laws would see him be set free immediately without having to put up bail and he would be sentenced to no time behind bars if convicted. But he was rarely prosecuted with any serious effort to put him away.
During the Republican Minority Leader’s comments, he asked, “Can Alvin Bragg maybe help with that?” He went on to note that the lack of enforcement of fundamental laws was leading to vigilante justice in the city. It’s pretty tough to argue with that and it’s rather shocking that we’re not seeing more of this already.
But as noted above, it’s not just the Republicans complaining this time. The chair of the Public Safety Committee, City Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (a Black, female Democrat from Staten Island) was quoted as saying, “Failure to enforce and mitigate shoplifting as a crime only leads to it becoming a more pervasive problem.”
Another Democratic Council member from Queens pointed to his district, saying that the District Attorney there has been working with the NYPD instead of against them. They have created lists of serial looters and stationed officers outside of retail stores where they block people on the list from even entering the store, to begin with. Such a tactic might face trouble if it’s challenged in court, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Could this be the beginning of the end for Alvin Bragg? He’s already had one meeting with Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul where she reportedly cautioned him about his responsibility to enforce the law. Now the Democrats on the City Council are publicly calling him out. Hochul has the authority to remove him from office under these circumstances, but she’s been reluctant to do that to a member of her own party. But now she would likely have the support of the Big Apple’s City Council so perhaps she will finally take action. If only the state legislature would notice this and fully repeal the “bail reform” law once and for all.
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