Of course Alvin Bragg just dismissed the cases of 31 of the 46 hooligans charged with occupying Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall in April.
They’re left-wing goons, “pro-Palestinian” protesters; this Manhattan district attorney has zero interest in prosecuting them.
His office cited the lack of evidence, such as security-camera video that could’ve tied each individual to the illegal occupation of Hamilton Hall and the destruction of property there.
Right: The occupiers disabled the cameras — and he’s rewarding them for it.
They wore masks, making it harder to ID bad actors?
Bull.
There’s ample body-cam footage of cops hauling them out of the building and onto busses for booking and mug shots: That’s more than enough to take the case to court.
Can’t show which goons actually destroyed property? Make it a conspiracy case.
Yes, it’s expensive to review body-cam footage quickly, as the state’s demented criminal-justice “reforms” require — but it’s the same footage for all these defendants, including those he may still charge.
And the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has more resources than any other DA in America, thanks to fines and forfeitures from Wall Street firms.
Bragg just doesn’t care to get tough here.
“This is a green light for chaos, a green light for destroying property,” fumed Michael Nussbaum, a member of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. Yep.
Indeed, the 116th Street subway station right by Columbia’s campus this week got defaced with anti-Israel graffiti in bright red paint.
One scrawling — “Long Live Hind’s Hall” — invoked the occupiers’ name for Hamilton Hall, after Hind Rajab, a Palestinian tot killed in the war that Hamas started.
We won’t review Bragg’s long list of prosecutorial fails here; it’s enough that this latest non-prosecution is no surprise at all.
But he’s up for re-election next year; those who care about justice in Manhattan have a duty to support credible challenges in the primary and the general election.
Give Manhattan voters a real chance to hold him accountable.