Before Arresting Trump, DA Bragg’s Office Once Charged Bodega Worker with Second-Degree Murder for Fending Off Attacker

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which is expected to arrest former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, is known for being soft on crime – but, not in the case of a 61 year-old bodega worker who fatally stabbed an attacker last July.

After stabbing a man in what appeared to be an act of self-defense, Alba – who had no criminal history – was sent to Riker’s Island prison when he couldn’t make bail, which was initially set at a quarter of a million dollars. DA Bragg’s office had pushed for bail to be set at a half-million dollars.

Alba’s attacker was out on parole at the time of the confrontation, and had been arrested eight times prior to his death, for crimes such as assault and robbery.

Interviewed by Fox News at the time, former NYPD detective Pat Brosnan called Alba’s arrest “unfathomable” and criticized District Attorney Alvin Bragg for charging Alba for what, in Brosnan’s opinion, was an act of self-defense.

“Jose Alba has our full support,” United Bodegas of America spokesman Fernando Mateo said, speaking on behalf of the United Bodegas of America. “Our city is in crisis and at this point we are just fed up with people robbing, looting, attacking, assaulting, killing our small business owners.”

“How many times can Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg get it wrong when it comes to criminals and crime victims?” The New York Post editorial board asked at the time.  “His prosecutors declined to charge the woman who stabbed bodega clerk Jose Alba, arguing that she was just defending her boyfriend.”

“He threw Alba into prison at Rikers Island, the notorious prison about which many liberals have repeatedly raised concerns,” The Washington Examiner reported, noting the apparent hypocrisy of DA Bragg, who is known for “keeping criminals out of jail”:

“Bragg has previously instructed prosecutors to use a light touch on most criminals. Like many liberal district attorneys, he focuses on keeping criminals out of jail and giving them the lightest sentences possible. He has been compelled to backtrack on some of these policies thanks to public pressure, but now he wants to bring the hammer down on an older bodega employee who was defending himself from a man who was threatening him.”

Amid growing public outcry, Alba’s bail was later reduced to $50,000 and DA Bragg’s office eventually dropped the charges.

But, even after the charges were finally dropped, Queens Councilman Robert Holden said it was “too little, too late” and called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to fire Bragg over the handling of Alba’s case, The New York Post reported:

“Finally doing the right thing and dropping the charges against a store clerk who was forced to defend himself, after weeks of horror for Mr. Alba and his family and outcry from the public and elected officials, is nothing to brag about.

“It’s too little, too late. He’s shown that he not only doesn’t care about victims of crime, but he will punish them. The ex-con’s girlfriend, who allegedly stabbed Mr. Alba, is the only one who should be charged. Governor Hochul must remove D.A. Bragg immediately.”

Alvin Bragg’s DA campaign received a $1,000,000 donation from far-left billionaire philanthropist and activist George Soros through a political action committee called “Color of Change.”

Bragg is one of two dozen Soros-linked district attorneys that have been elected around the country since 2015, all of whom share similar soft-on-crime approaches to their positions.

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