Manhattan prosecutor drops charges against Hamilton Heights bodega worker
The panel on 'The Five' sound off after New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg reverses course.
After left-wing New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office reversed course on prosecution of a Hamilton Heights bodega worker for murder after he killed a man who attacked him, other leading New York State lawmakers were slammed for their silence.
While New York City Mayor Eric Adams celebrated the reversal and has in recent weeks been lauded by supporters of Jose Alba as a rare Democratic voice calling out Bragg's initial decision, both U.S. senators from the Empire State remained largely silent.
Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand represent New York in the Senate, while Manhattan Island where the incident occurred is represented in the House by Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Adriano Espaillat, Nydia Velazquez and Carolyn Maloney.
On "The Five," host Dana Perino questioned the silence of Schumer, who is the most powerful member of the Senate, asking where his voice has been these past few weeks.
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Members of the Dominican community, bodega owners and different associations are pictured on the steps of City Hall during press conference asking Manhattan D. A. Alvin Bragg to drop charges against Jose Alba. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
"Where was AOC [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.]? Where were any of the New York State [and] local [politicians]? Where was Chuck Schumer – did you ever hear from him? I don't think so," she said, adding that for prominent entities like Schumer – who has been in Congress since 1981 – and the New York Times, "this is your city."
"You're the ones that are that want to see everybody come back to work. You want to see the city flourish: Then you have to start figuring out a way to put pressure on Alvin Bragg as finally [Adams] did."
Late Tuesday, Espaillat, who represents the site of the incident and like Alba is a Dominican immigrant, praised Bragg's decision, saying the case "did not go unnoticed" among constituents and credited the prosecutor for dropping the case.
"Today’s dismissal is a step in the right direction, and I commend the mayor for increasing the mobile unit of NYPD officers in the Hamilton Heights community," he added in a statement.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) outside the House of Representatives (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty)
Perino said Alba still deserves an apology on the whole for what he went through, including his stint on Rikers Island, the city's notorious prison complex.
Co-host Greg Gutfeld pointed out that some in the New York City delegation were instead getting themselves arrested in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, where Ocasio-Cortez and Maloney – the chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee -- were taken into custody at a pro-abortion protest.
Maloney instead said Tuesday "the least I can do is put my body on the line for the 33 million women at risk of losing their rights," while Ocasio-Cortez offered a fist-in-the-air to fellow protesters as police led her away.
Gutfeld later credited the regional bodega owners banding together to support Alba, while criticizing GoFundMe for deplatforming a fund for the then-detainee.
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