Woke Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg admitted on Tuesday that even he is afraid of crime on New York City‘s subways.
‘I know the statistics that transit crime is down, but when one of my family members gets on the train, I, too, get a knot in my stomach,’ he told FOX 5 News when asked about the perception that the subway system is becoming increasingly unsafe.
‘I live here, I’m raising my family here, so we have a lot more work to do,’ he added.
Bragg’s comments come as transit crimes spiked nearly 20 percent last month, compared to the same time period the year before.
Among those crimes was a string of subway slashings in which a man allegedly attacked three different women over a 20-minute span on June 18.
Many of these criminals have prior arrests, but were let back onto the streets under the lax bail laws that Bragg had advocated for.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg admitted on Tuesday that even he is afraid of crime on New York City’s subways
Police are pictured at the site of a subway station in Queens where a straphanger was killed last month
During the month of June, crimes on New York City’s transit system spiked more than 18 percent, with 195 different cases reported — up from 165 cases reported in June 2022.
In one of these horrendous crimes, a career criminal was accused of slashing three different women within just a 20-minute span on Father’s Day.
The first victim, Bianchelly Diplan, 19, was walking out of the 86th Street station on her way to Paris Baguette to pick up a cake when she felt the back of her leg get cut so deeply she required 19 stitches.
Another woman, 48, was later slashed in the right leg in the same station on the platform where the suspect, Kemal Rideout, 28, could be seen on security footage dashing back into the downtown 4-train around 4pm.
Fifteen minutes later, Rideout allegedly attacked a 28-year-old victim in the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station, police said.
That victim was left with blood dripping down her leg and needing an emergency tourniquet to stem the bleeding.
She tried to film her attacker as he nonchalantly walked through the train, and could be heard in the footage crying out for help.
Rideout is now facing three counts of felony assault.
He previously had four prior arrests outside of the city, and is now being held on Riker’s Island without bail.
Kemal Rideout, 28, is facing three counts of felony assault after he allegedly stabbed three women on Father’s Day
One victim was left with blood dripping down her leg and needing an emergency tourniquet to stem the bleeding
In another incident just five days earlier, a 20-year-old subway rider fatally stabbed Devictor Ouedraogo, 36, on a northbound J train in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Charges against Jordan Williams, 20, were dropped after a grand jury found he had acted in self-defense because Ouedraogo had earlier choked him and punched his girlfriend.
Video obtained by the New York Daily News showed the victim, who was slurring his words and was shirtless, getting into a random passenger’s face. The outlet has not published the footage.
As the commuter tried not to react, Ouedraogo began gyrating in front of him.
Williams could be seen approaching the man in an apparent attempt to calm him down by the end of the video.
But a second clip obtained by the outlet showed the two men fighting, as an unknown woman was heard screaming ‘Don’t f******* touch her, you piece of s***.’
‘Get your f****** hand off of her.
It is not known if this woman referenced was Williams’ girlfriend.
Ouedraogo was then seen backing off as his chest was covered in blood and stumbled off the train and collapsed on the platform.
Police and first responders rushed to the scene, and emergency service crews took the man to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Emergency crews were seen carrying a stretcher up to the Queens platform where Devictor Ouedraogo, 36, was killed last month
Crews brought Ouedraogo, another career criminal, to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead
Sources claimed that Williams’ self-defense claims were backed by video showing Ouedraogo strangling Williams and punching his girlfriend, as well as testimony from witnesses on the train.
New York law states that ‘a person is justified in using deadly physical force when they reasonably believe it is necessary to use such force to defend themselves or others from imminent use of deadly or unlawful physical force.’
Officers said the couple involved in the attack stayed on the train, but were tracked down at the Chauncey Street station.
They said they did not know the victim, and both Williams and his girlfriend were taken into custody as ‘persons of interest,’ though the woman was later released.
It was later revealed that Ouedraogo had spent three years in prison beginning in 2009 following an attempted robbery conviction in Queens.
The incident has drawn similarities with the death of Neely, 30, a homeless man with drug addiction problems, who died on the subway on May 1 after he was restrained by Penny
The case echoes that of black homeless man Jordan Neely, 30, who was killed on the F-train on May 1 when Daniel Penny, 24, – a white ex-Marine – put him in a chokehold for allegedly threatening fellow passengers, claiming he acted in self-defense.
But in that case, a grand jury upheld manslaughter charges and added a charge of criminally negligent homicide against Penny. If convicted, Penny faces up to 19 years in prison.
In a statement after the hearing, Penny’s attorneys, Steve Raiser and Thomas Keniff, told DailyMail.com: ‘Today Danny entered a plea of not guilty, with great confidence that a jury of his peers will ultimately agree, by rendering a verdict of not guilty on all counts after trial.
‘But Danny is not going to be the only one on trial. The right and duty to protect one another will be on trial too.
‘Our legal team at Raiser & Kenniff is fighting for Danny and for all New Yorkers’ right and duty to defend one another when faced with grave harm. Tens of thousands of People have stepped forward to support Danny, monetarily, with words of encouragement and prayers. For that Danny is eternally grateful.
‘On May 1, 2023, Danny defended his fellow travelers, now is our turn to defend Danny.’
DailyMail
