Democratic New York City Councilman Robert Holden took aim at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s leadership—or perceived lack thereof—at a New York field hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on April 17.
“I’m here to address the lawlessness that has taken over the city in recent years as a result of the failed progressive policies implemented by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg,” Holden testified before the committee.
Noting that Bragg’s first year in office had been marked by a “dramatic shift” in the prosecution of crime, Holden asserted that the district attorney’s “soft on crime” policies suggested his top priority was not protecting law-abiding citizens but keeping criminals out of jail.
“On his first day in office, Bragg issued a memo that decriminalized a broad range of offenses and reduced charges for violent crime,” the councilman said. “This was a signal for every criminal that it was open season on law-abiding citizens in New York County.”
Additionally, for the first quarter of 2023, homicides, rapes, robberies, and grand larceny all trended downward, year-over-year, though car thefts and felony assaults saw an increase.
But at Monday’s hearing, Holden noted that Bragg had made a habit of downgrading most felonies to misdemeanors and declining to prosecute others.
“Under Bragg, violent crimes such as resisting arrest, trespassing, fare evasion, prostitution are no longer prosecuted, which has led to a marked increase in criminal activity on the streets of Manhattan,” he noted.
“Serious offenses, such as knifepoint robbery, commercial and residential burglaries, weapons possession, and low-level drug dealing are being charged with lesser offenses or being plea-bargained down, resulting in shorter sentences or no jail time at all.”
According to Politifact, Bragg downgraded 52 percent of the felony cases his office reviewed in 2022 to misdemeanors. Further, for cases thus far in 2023, that percentage has increased to 54 percent.
And Holden is hardly the first person to criticize Bragg for his lenient approach to crime.
However, seemingly in response to Holden’s comments, Bragg’s office shared a series of enforcement statistics on Monday via Twitter, stressing that gun and hate crime prosecutions had increased under his leadership and that, to date, homicides, shootings, robberies, burglaries, transit crime, and total index crime were down year-over-year in Manhattan.
“Under D.A. Bragg, outreach to domestic violence survivors, support of other victims and witnesses, and crisis responses by both counselors and advocates have all increased significantly,” his office added. “We also requested $1.1 million in new funding from the New York City Council to expand the Office’s Witness Aid Services Unit (WASU), which supports crime victims and witnesses.”
Bragg’s office previously criticized the Judiciary Committee hearing as a “political stunt” that would do nothing to increase public safety.
The Epoch Times has contacted Bragg’s office for further comment.