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By: Donny Simcha Guttman
Embattled, controversial District Attorney Alvin Bragg of Manhattan, last week dropped charges for pro-Hamas insurrectionists who illegally seized rooms in Columbia University a month ago. A representative from Bragg’s office said to the NY Post, “We bring charges based on the facts, evidence, and what is provable in a court of law, and the Office continues to prosecute an array of cases stemming from campus protests. As we said in court, the defendants whose cases were dismissed had no criminal history and there was extremely limited video evidence, which made it challenging to determine the specific actions of each individual.” In response, in recent days, Jewish and pro-Israel protesters have demonstrated their outrage against DA Bragg.
Yola Ashkenasie, a Jew who attends Columbia called Bragg’s decision to the Post “a betrayal of the safety and trust of all New Yorkers like myself. As a student, I witnessed the chaos and fear that gripped our campus. Students, especially those who lived on campus, feared for their safety, unsure if they or their dorm rooms were targets. Personally, I did not return to campus until graduation because of how physically aggressive and completely out of hand this incident became.” Columbia Professor Shai Davidai also said in response to Bragg, ”I’m appalled as a father. I’m appalled as a Jewish man. And I’m appalled as a taxpayer. This is what we pay for. We pay for that guy to do his job, and he refused to do it. It could be one of two things he gets to decide for himself. He’s either a coward or an antisemite. What I’ve been seeing all around the country is not just scary. It’s disgraceful, because once again, once again, we Jews are left to fend for ourselves.”
Protesters including Ashkenasie also recently protested in front of Bragg’s office with signs saying, “You can prosecute Trump but not masked Jew haters?” and with chants like, “Bragg, Bragg punish the crime, make these criminals do their time!” Bragg has in recent months been in the news mostly for his prosecution of former and possible future President Donald Trump, for what many have called “legal warfare.” The case’s legitimacy and legal standing have been questioned by constitutional experts like Jonathon Turley and others. Bragg has also controversially throughout his tenure been known for being an advocate of progressive criminal justice reform policies like not prosecuting “low-leveled” crimes like marijuana misdemeanors, refusal to pay for public transportation fare, prostitution, and resisting arrest.
Michelle Ahdoot, director of End Jew Hatred said to the Post on taking action against Bragg, “These criminals need trial and consequences. Alvin Bragg’s failure to impose consequences on these criminals, on these very anarchists, is paving the way for lawlessness everywhere. And if Bragg isn’t doing his job and refuses to prosecute for whatever reason, we don’t care what the reason is, then we’re asking the DOJ to take over— both to investigate and prosecute these crimes and to investigate Braggs’s failure to protect civil rights of minority New Yorkers, our Jewish civil rights.”
Since Hamas’s horrific attack against innocent civilians on October 7th, Israel has been fighting an existential defensive war against the terror group, but sympathetic liberal groups on college campuses, including on Columbia, have been setting up illegal encampments to support Hamas and “Palestinian rights.”
