DA Alvin Bragg sued for discriminatory ‘racial equity’ policies after he had NYC bodega clerk Jose Alba arrested over self-defense

On Friday, former New York City bodega worker Jose Alba, who was previously charged with murder for defending himself, is suing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for racial discrimination in his arrest. 

According to the complaint, Bragg's pursuit of "racial equity" in the Manhattan justice system has caused an increase in racial discrimination, not a decrease, and it caused his bail to be higher than normal so that he was wrongfully locked up in egregious conditions in Rikers prison. 

"New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg and/or his subordinates, following Bragg’s policy to achieve ‘racial equity’ in the Manhattan criminal justice system, charged Plaintiff with murder in the second degree and asked for high bail at Plaintiff’s arraignment," it reads. 

"Despite the fact that Simon and Lee were the initial aggressors, it was Plaintiff who was arrested, incarcerated, and wrongfully prosecuted," The complaint continued. "While in theory, Bragg’s ‘racial equity’ policies are a well-intentioned attempt by him to implement even-handed justice, the means and methods employed by Bragg have instead had an opposite effect and resulted in discrimination against certain defendants based on race." 

Alba was arrested on July 13, 2022, after Austin Simons's girlfriend and her daughter entered his Blue Moon bodega and had their EBT card declined while attempting to buy a bag of chips. When Alba refused to let her take the chips for free, the woman began yelling obscenities at him. She can be heard in one video saying, "I’m going to bring my n*gger down here, and he gonna f*ck you up." 

A few minutes later the woman showed up with Simon, who immediately rushed Alba. Alba told the man, "Papa, I don't want a problem," with his hands up. Simon, a prior criminal with over 27 arrests, ignored Alba's pleas and moved behind the counter shoving him into the wall, and blocking him from leaving. Eventually, Alba grabbed a knife off a shelf and stabbed Simon five times, while the girlfriend was stabbing Alba with a knife she pulled from her purse. 

Alba eventually called the police where he was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder, with a bail set a $500,000. Unable to pay the bail, Alba spent nearly a week in Rikers Island Prison. The video of the incident immediately went viral online, and after enough outrage from the public bail was reduced to $50,000, and Alba was able to post it. 

On July 19, 2022, DA Bragg's office filed a motion to dismiss all charges against Alba.