News/Commentary

NYC DA Alvin Bragg slammed hard after locking bodega worker up in Rikers Island for defending himself

July 8, 2022 | | Print Article

(Video: Fox News)

New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s decision to throw the book at an elderly bodega worker, charging him with murder after he stabbed a violent thug in self-defense has set off an outpouring of outrage, with many taking to Twitter to rage against the leftist official who has developed a reputation for coddling criminals.

On Friday night, Jose Alba was behind the counter at the Blue Moon convenience store in the Harlem area when he was allegedly attacked by 37-year-old ex-con Austin Simon after his girlfriend lost her temper over a bag of chips, getting into a heated argument with the older man that led to the thug going behind the counter allegedly to rough him up.

Things soon got chaotic and bloody in the shocking incident that has since gone viral on social media as Alba, who after being pushed into a shelf and menaced by Simon – whom he likely believed was on the verge of inflicting serious bodily harm on him – grabbed a large knife and stabbed his assailant multiple times, then backed off holding the bloody knife in his hand.

Simon was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, a high price to pay for a disagreement over a bag of chips.

Despite clear evidence that he acted in self-defense, Bragg’s office brought the charge of murder against Alba who was sent to the notorious Rikers Island facility that serves as the main detention facility for the worst of the worst criminals in the Big Apple, originally setting his bail at an exorbitant $250,000, unlike what the the common street thugs who have terrorized the city customarily receive.

Rightly or wrongly, many saw Alba’s stabbing of his attacker as a heroic act, not exactly a surprising sentiment expressed by citizens who have seen their home deteriorate into a crime-ridden dystopian hellhole under the miserable reign of Democrat Bill de Blasio who glorified Black Lives Matter rioters that looted and pillaged, stripped police of funding and all but handed the key to the city to violent thugs who have preyed on helpless New Yorkers.

On Thursday, de Blasio’s replacement at City Hall, Mayor Eric Adams spoke out about Alba, “My heart goes out for this hard-working, honest New Yorker that was doing his job in his place of business, where a person came in and went behind the counter and attacked him,” said the former police officer turned politician.

“The DA has a non-mandate, where we cannot dictate or mandate how he determines how he’s going to prosecute crimes,” Adams said to reporters, declining to criticize Bragg. “That is up to the district attorney, and I’m not going to second-guess the district attorney for his actions.”

Alba’s family had set up a GoFundMe page to help pay his legal expenses but the page was shut down without explanation after raising $20,000, according to the Daily Mail.

A judge lowered Alba’s bail to $50,000 after a deal was reached between his attorney and prosecutors despite Bragg’s office claiming that a planned trip to the Dominican Republic merited the outrageous initial amount because he was a flight risk.

“Under the terms, Alba has to wear an ankle bracelet, surrender his passport and is not allowed to leave the five boroughs, which Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sigall said ‘will ensure the fact that the defendant will not go to the DR as he planned to,’” the New York Post reported.

Reaction on Twitter was ferocious as users railed against the injustice of such severe punishment meted out by Bragg against a hard working middle-aged man who was defending himself against a known criminal.

“I & the Guardian Angels will be in the court tomorrow to make sure that this innocent man is cut loose. In a city where Alvin Bragg, the #NYC DA cuts loose criminals every day, it’s time that we stand for the victims who fight back,” tweeted Guardian Angels founder and former mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa.

Newsweek’s Batya Ungar-Sargon wrote, “My God, just when you think they can’t go lower: A bodega owner who defended himself from an ex-con is in Rikers on $250K bail. It’s not enough to let career criminals loose—if you don’t submit to their attacks, YOU will go to jail. The absolute depravity.”

Other Twitter users weighed in.

Alba was sprung from Rikers Island on Thursday after his bail was lowered.

The heavy-handed treatment of Alba is only going to turn up the temperature under Bragg’s seat which was already red hot with public outrage over his disastrous tenure boiling over.

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