On Monday evening, the NYYRC held a rally to respond to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's plan to arrest Trump.
Held in Lower Manhattan's Collect Pond Park located right by the courthouses, over one hundred people showed up in support. They were young, racially diverse, highly motivated, and one hundred percent peaceful.
The press turnout was larger than that for any other event I've seen. This includes elected officials, both Republican and Democrat, from Mayor to City Council, which is a point worth noting. Press is invited anytime an elected official wants to make a statement and turnout is usually a struggle. This time, the press, which formed a crescent moon around the speakers, was four rungs deep, kneeling, standing, some pushing, and hanging onto every word.
Gavin Wax, president of the NYYRC spoke first.
"We are here to show that there is support for President Trump in the bluest area in the country and here in Manhattan. This is a politicized prosecution without any merit. Many federal prosecutors have chosen not to prosecute this. [DA Bragg's] predecessor chose not to prosecute this. Now that [Trump] is rising in the polls, now they're choosing to do this. This is a disgrace to our country and our judicial system. That the leader of the opposition, our presumptive nominee for president, will be prosecuted, will be put in handcuffs, will be dragged in front of a court for a novel legal theory that has never been tested, this is a disgusting shame," said Wax.
Helen Qiu, single mother of one and candidate for City Council District 1 where the rally was held, said, "Alvin Bragg is a betrayal to every hardworking New York City resident. He condones violent crimes committed against seniors, women, and children. He should be removed from office. Now he is targeting Trump. How does this make any of our lives better? How does this address the real issues troubling the Chinese and Jewish communities suffering from tremendous spikes in hate crimes? So many small business owners are victimized by looters in this very district and throughout the five boroughs."
Whether one is pro or anti-Trump, Bragg's straightjacket worthy crusade to ensnare him is turning off moms. Political pundits and pollsters said Trump had a "suburban mom problem." New York City Democrats might soon be faced with an "urban mom problem."
Wax noted that this prosecution and persecution comes "out of an office that has refused to prosecute violent criminals, life long offenders, rapists, and murder[ers]. "Crime has been going up and now this is what [Bragg] is choosing to do. It's an indictment not on Trump but on Alvin Bragg's office."
Vish Burra, the NYYRC executive secretary, spoke next. "Look, it's really simple. Alvin Bragg needs to get back to doing his job." Unsure what "job" Bragg has been doing. While New York City Mayor continues to say we're headed in the right direction, this is only true if the direction is to hell. Crime year to date is up according to CompStat in almost all of the seven majors. Serious assaults are up 18 percent, rapes up 16 percent, and robberies and burglaries rose 9.4 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. 74 percent of New York City residents say crime is a "serious issue." Seems like Bragg missed the memo.
Burra continued, "Crime is through the roof in New York City. We need him to focus on cleaning up this city and filling the building behind us (jail) with criminals to the brim and not with an audience of one, Donald Trump. Bragg needs to not abdicate the authority that he's been given by the good people of Manhattan. There are heinous attacks in the subways, on our streets, and we need to [re]claim [them], which is why we're here today."
Post the packed event, which was organized overnight, Wax tweeted, "Apparently there was a call today with all elected officials in NYC (City Council, Assembly, Senate, DAs, Borough Presidents, & the Mayor)and they explicitly brought up the @NYYRC protest cause they wanted it to be a J6 style event."
If this is true, it's disgusting that public servants would wish for, and put into process, chaos, violence, murder, vandalism, and incarceration.
However, the Democrats should be scared. This rally was the opposite of divisive. It touched on what the majority, the 74%, feel that barely any politician acknowledges. New York City has been scourged by deadly dangerous policy coming from one party Democrat rule. They lie about the situation when they're not flat-out ignoring it.
Tonight was a reminder; local races matter. We could have had Tom Kenniff for DA.
During the DA campaign, Bragg was upfront and shockingly transparent about his "social justice" style of governance. He said His new plan seeks programs before jail time (meaning government factotum expansion). As per Daily Mail, "[Bragg] sent a memo to his staff announcing he 'will not seek carceral' sentences for criminals, unless they were guilty of murder or a handful of other crimes he deemed serious enough to warrant prison. His sweeping changes call on prosecutors to ditch felony armed robbery charges and instead charge suspects with petty larceny - a misdemeanor which carries a maximum of one year in prison - even when a weapon is involved if the firearm did not 'create a genuine risk of physical harm.'"
City Council elections are this November 7th. New York City is turning increasingly red. Let's make history.
