Lee Zeldin reacts to shooting outside home, tight gov race
Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., calls out Gov. Kathy Hochul, lax prosecutors in Empire State.
After the Empire State's crime wave got right up to his Shirley, N.Y. home, Republican gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin doubled down on his plan to quash the criminality running rampant in New York.
Zeldin, currently a Republican congressman on Long Island, told Fox News on Monday he would immediately fire New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg, one of several high-profile DAs linked to left-wing billionaire George Soros that are viewed as soft-on-crime.
In New York City, where only one county – Richmond – has had a Republican district attorney within the last several decades, crime has spiraled out of control, Zeldin said.
The lawmaker and candidate also blamed his opponent, Democratic Gov. Kathleen Hochul – who ascended to the post upon the resignation of Andrew M. Cuomo – for failing to take action against the crime spree.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
"I'm not in this race to come in second. I'm all-in. I'm over 18 months into this race, campaigning all throughout this entire state. One of the reasons why I got into the race was because of these pro-criminal laws that have been getting passed out of Albany," Zeldin said, a day after two individuals were shot in a suspected gang hit within mere feet of his twin daughters inside their home doing homework.
One victim was under Zeldin's porch and another in nearby bushes, the lawmaker said.
Zeldin and his wife had been away in Morris Park, Bronx participating in the borough's Columbus Day parade when the incident occurred at their home.
Zeldin told Fox News that Suffolk County authorities believe his home nor his family were an intended target, and that politics were not involved in the shooting incident.
Then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, and then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul during a cabinet meeting at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
He went on to criticize Bragg and Hochul's respective purported roles in allowing crime to spiral out of control in New York, viewed only a few years ago as one of the safest large cities in America, under mayors like Republican Rudolph Giuliani.
"From cashless bail to less is more releasing people early from prison. The HALT Act, which has resulted our correctional officers and other prison staff being assaulted more since the April 1st implementation. We've seen it with district attorneys like Alvin Bragg refusing to enforce the law, the defund movement, targeting our law enforcement," Zeldin added.
"I believe that Albany needs to break this one party rule, have a balance of power, start unapologetically backing our men and women in law enforcement again, giving judges discretion away dangerousness."
Incumbent Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin. (Getty Images)
He concluded by citing the gubernatorial "constitutional authority" to dispatch with elected prosecutors in any of the state's 62 counties.
"And that's what that's why I say my first action, the first day I'm in office is, turning to the Manhattan D.A., Alvin Bragg, to let him know he's being fired," Zeldin said, accusing the Democrat of repeatedly failing to enforce laws on-the-books.
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