NY socialist lawmaker defends shoplifting for 'biological needs'

A socialist New York lawmaker defended shoplifting during a press conference on Thursday, arguing that people who steal necessities are doing so because of a “biological need.”

Emily Gallagher, a New York state assemblywoman, made the comments outside Manhattan Criminal Court while discussing “crimes of poverty.”

“Most of what we saw were crimes of poverty-people who are stealing things like toothpaste, people who were stealing things like, you know, soap. And that means if you’re stealing those things, you need them,” she said, according to the New York Post.

“And we are choosing to protect billion-dollar companies, like CVS and Walgreens, over the people who are struggling to get by,” she added. “So I would say that the true crime is that there is such incredible wealth disparity in this city that there are people who can be thrown in jail simply for having a biological need.”

Gallagher, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has echoed the organization’s platform that includes the long-term goal of abolishing prisons entirely. She had called for a “treatment-not-jail” approach, even though many first-time shoplifters do not face jail time.

Gallagher, along with several other lawmakers, also called on socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani to fulfill his campaign pledge to end “broken windows policing,” a strategy that emphasises enforcement on lower-level offenses such as fare evasion and graffiti.

The comments drew quick criticism from Republican lawmakers. Queens City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino wrote on X: “They want you to imagine a poor mother being thrown in prison for stealing a tube of toothpaste she couldn’t afford. That has never been policy in NYC.”

“In reality, shoplifting of items like soap and toothpaste are usually organized and at scale, to the benefit of gangs who then sell the stolen products on the street themselves,” Paladino said. “People like Emily Gallagher try to obfuscate reality because they want to enable this very activity. They know it’s devastating to retail stores and that’s the point — they’re communists and want to use crime to force these stores to close. It’s social justice.”

“Your toothpaste and shampoo isn’t locked up because a poor mom once stole a bottle. Walgreens and CVS aren’t closing locations citywide because they lost a few bars of soap,” she continued. “This is happening because organized gangs have been allowed to constantly ransack the stores, enabled by people like Emily Gallagher. And the rest of us pay dearly for it. When stores have to take these kinds of risks just to open, it drives up the cost of products across the board for the rest of us. Remember that next time they lecture about ‘cost of living’ here.”