Progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is facing demands from New York Senate Republicans for his removal from office, and while those calls have nothing to do with Bragg's ongoing prosecution of former President Donald Trump, there is little doubt that Trump would benefit if the prosecutor was removed.
The New York Senate Republicans urged Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove Bragg from office over his "unconscionable handling" of the illegal migrant suspects in a violent mob attack against two NYPD officers in late January, the New York Post reported.
Only a few of the roughly dozen suspects seen in the caught-on-video assault have been arrested, with all but one of those subsequently released from jail without any bail, and it is now believed that several of the released suspects have fled the state to avoid any criminal charges brought belatedly in response to public pressure on the prosecutor.
In the letter sent Tuesday to Gov. Hochul signed by 19 GOP state senators, the lawmakers wrote, "Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s unconscionable handling of the recent attack on two NYPD officers by a gang of migrants outside of a Times Square shelter must be the final straw."
"The public safety of New Yorkers is clearly at risk. We urgently ask you to exercise your power under the State Constitution and the Public Officers Law to remove District Attorney Alvin Bragg from office," they continued.
The letter noted that video of the incident showed a mob of around a dozen illegal migrants violently attacking two NYPD officers, how only seven suspects had been arrested to date, how six of those arrestees were then released without bail by Bragg's office -- one even defiantly flipping off reporters as he exited the jail -- and how at least four of those suspects are believed to have fled to California.
"From the moment he took office, DA Bragg has thumbed his nose at crime victims, turned his back on the police, and has selectively prosecuted criminals for political reasons only. His incredibly poor judgment is matched only by his unwillingness to take criminals off the streets," the senators wrote.
"It is clear that DA Bragg has no interest in prosecuting criminals and no desire to support law enforcement, which in turn, makes New Yorkers less safe," they continued. "We need a District Attorney that will enforce the law and do what is necessary to not only get the criminals off the streets, but also send the message that lawlessness will not be tolerated."
The letter to the governor concluded, "DA Bragg is failing at performing the basic duties of his position, and for the safety of all New Yorkers, you must remove him from the office of Manhattan District Attorney immediately."
The Post reported that State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, who signed the letter to the governor, told reporters Tuesday that DA Bragg "is running a public defenders' office out of the district attorney’s office."
For what it is worth, Bragg released a statement over the weekend, undoubtedly due to the public outcry, to insist that his office has continued to work together with the NYPD to positively identify the group of migrant assailants and strongly implied that additional criminal charges could soon be forthcoming against them.
It is also notable that Gov. Hochul, in an MSNBC interview on Tuesday, was sharply critical of the "frustrating" release of the attackers without bail, even as the crime is eligible for bail in the otherwise lenient state, and asserted that the migrants who assault the NYPD officers should have been held in custody due to the nature of the crime.
"I want them to be prosecuted. I want them convicted," the governor said. "I want them to do time in jail, and then we deport them because if we just send them back to their home country, who knows what, whether there will ever be any consequences."
Minority Leader Ortt, in response to Hochul's remarks, told the Post, "If Governor Hochul is serious, she believes they should have been deported, then she should fire Alvin Bragg, she should remove him from office because he simply is not performing the duties that we expect the district attorney to do."
