The story of a New York City bodega employee charged with murder for protecting himself from assault is a sorry sign of the Big Apple times. Progressive District Attorney Alvin Bragg routinely offers leniency to criminals, but he threw the book at the bodega clerk.
Press reports say the July 1 dispute began when a woman’s payment card was declined as she tried to buy a bag of chips. Video shows her shouting at bodega worker Jose Alba that her boyfriend “is gonna come down here right now and f— you up.” The boyfriend, 35-year-old Austin Simon, entered the bodega, and security-camera footage shows him confronting Mr. Alba and shoving and grabbing him.
