Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is going after Donald Trump for his hush money arrangement with ex-porn star Stormy Daniels, claiming it was an egregious criminal violation that no one knew about, which could have impacted the 2016 election. Everyone knew about this, sir. And it wouldn’t have swayed the election: Hillary still would’ve lost. It’s essentially a campaign finance violation, which the Obama campaign was guilty of in 2012. There was no trial. Obama wasn’t hauled in front of a judge. They paid a fine. But now Mr. Bragg has some legal trouble, though it pales compared to what Trump is facing. It might be a pinprick move, but it’s about time someone did it: Bragg is being sued by the bodega worker he tried to charge with murder. The same bodega owner who used justified deadly force against an armed robber.
The incident occurred in July 2022 when Austin Simon attacked Jose Alba behind the counter. Alba grabbed a knife and stabbed Simon in self-defense. The security camera footage is clear that Alba was the victim, but he was charged with second-degree murder and sent to Rikers with bail set at $250,000. He was finally released after a public backlash. Even Mayor Eric Adams went on the record to say Alba acted in self-defense. Alba is suing Bragg for racial discrimination, which has been in the works since this winter. Fox News reported that Alba’s lawyers wanted to get the settlement from the city nailed down first:
The New York City bodega clerk who had murder charges dropped after video showed he acted in self-defense is suing District Attorney Alvin Bragg and NYPD for civil rights violations.
Jose Alba, an ex-bodega worker who was attacked behind the counter on July 1, 2022, by 35-year-old Austin Simon and his girlfriend, Tina Lee, filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Friday alleging he was wrongfully prosecuted because of the Manhattan district attorney's "racial equity" policies. The complaint names Bragg, NYPD Detective William Garcia, and unidentified arresting officers and detectives of the NYPD as defendants in the case.
"New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg and/or his subordinates, following Bragg’s policy to achieve ‘racial equity’ in the Manhattan criminal justice system, charged Plaintiff with murder in the second degree and asked for high bail at Plaintiff’s arraignment," the complaint states.
"Despite the fact that Simon and Lee were the initial aggressors, it was Plaintiff who was arrested, incarcerated, and wrongfully prosecuted. While in theory, Bragg’s ‘racial equity’ policies are a well-intentioned attempt by him to implement even-handed justice, the means and methods employed by Bragg have instead had an opposite effect and resulted in discrimination against certain defendants based on race."
Who knows how this case will end? It might get tossed. Still, it’s about time someone bring Bragg’s incompetence as district attorney front-and-center again.