A listening to on crime held by the Home Judiciary Committee on Monday took a number of stunning turns with members from each side of the aisle providing an array of various views.
On Monday, the Home Judiciary Committee, led by Ohio Republican Consultant Jim Jordan, held a listening to in New York Metropolis to debate violent crime and District Legal professional Alvin Bragg’s insurance policies.
“The Home Judiciary Committee will maintain a subject listening to on Monday, April 17, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. ET in New York Metropolis, New York. The listening to, ‘Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan,’ will study how Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg’s pro-crime, anti-victim insurance policies have led to a rise in violent crime and a harmful neighborhood for New York Metropolis residents,” the committee stated in an announcement relating to the listening to.
Earlier this month, Bragg indicted former President Donald Trump in connection to an alleged hush cash scheme to silence grownup movie star Stormy Daniels earlier than the 2016 presidential election, sparking a feud between Bragg and the Home Judiciary Committee.
Whereas Monday’s listening to featured audio system criticizing Bragg and crime in Manhattan, some Democrats on the committee shared completely different opinions, together with some calling for the listening to to be moved to Jordan’s house state of Ohio.
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Towards the start of the listening to, committee members heard affect statements from a number of New York residents who’ve skilled violent crime incidents. Democratic New York Metropolis Council member Robert F. Holden additionally spoke early within the listening to and criticized Bragg’s insurance policies.
“On his first day in workplace, Bragg issued a memo that will decriminalize a broad vary of offenses and cut back expenses for violent crime,” Holden stated. “This was a sign for each felony that it was open season on law-abiding residents in New York….These failed progressive insurance policies reverse 30 years of regulation and order delivered to town by the hardworking women and men of the NYPD {and professional} prosecutors that put victims’ rights forward of criminals.”
Throughout one other portion of the listening to, Jim Kessler, the co-founder and senior vp for coverage for Third Approach, supplied an array of crime stats in New York Metropolis and spoke about how they evaluate to different cities throughout the nation.
Kessler stated that “New York Metropolis is just not solely safer than most giant cities in America, it’s safer than most cities of any dimension, and on a per capita foundation, New York Metropolis is safer than a lot of the states of the members sitting…on the bulk facet.”
Kessler went on to say that Ohio’s homicide fee was greater than the speed in New York Metropolis in 2020.
Shortly after Kessler learn off quite a few crime developments in New York Metropolis and the way they evaluate to different cities, Consultant David Cicilline, a Democratic member of the committee, requested Jordan if the listening to could possibly be moved to Ohio.
Consultant Zoe Lofgren, one other Democratic member on the committee, additionally spoke in regards to the witnesses and stated she felt they have been being “used for a political goal” by the Republican members, sparking a response from the gang, which appeared to disagree.
Republican Consultant Matt Gaetz additionally issued a response to Lofgren’s feedback and requested lots of the witnesses in the event that they felt used.
“I am a keen participant,” witness Madeline Brame, the mom of a murder sufferer, stated in response.
Democratic member Henry Johnson additionally criticized Jordan and the placement of the listening to, which prompted many viewers members to talk out in disagreement. Jordan referred to as for order within the listening to and warned that some could possibly be requested to depart in the event that they continued to interrupt. Afterward, a person within the viewers was escorted out of the listening to by cops.
Newsweek beforehand reached out to Jordan’s press secretary for remark through e mail.