NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS) — Fresh from a Manhattan courtroom, Donald Trump visited a Harlem bodega where a man was stabbed to death, a stark pivot for the former president as he juggles being a criminal defendant and the Republican challenger intent on blaming President Joe Biden for crime.
Trump stopped by Sanaa Convenient Store, a tiny bodega on Broadway that sells chips, sodas and other snacks. Trump aides said the former president and presumptive GOP nominee chose the store because it has been the site of a violent attack on an employee, a case that resulted in public criticism for the district attorney now prosecuting him.
The visit was Trump's first campaign appearance since his criminal hush money trial began, making the presumptive GOP nominee the first former president in U.S. history to stand criminal trial.
With his local campaign stop in Harlem, Trump blended that familiar, if often exaggerated, message with his promise to make a serious play at winning his native state despite its heavily Democratic lean.
“They want law and order ... every week they're being robbed,” Trump said of businesses in New York, as he tried to compare his prosecution with what happens on New York streets. “You know where the crime is? It's in the bodegas.”
Contrary to Trump’s rhetoric, FBI statistics show overall violent crime dropped nationally in 2023 after COVID-era spikes that began in 2020, when Trump was president. Crime also has fallen in New York City since the pandemic peaks.
In July 2022, Jose Alba, a former clerk at the store—which was at the time called Blue Moon Convenient Store—was attacked by 35-year-old Austin Simon. The resulting altercation, captured on surveillance video, ended with Alba fatally stabbing Simon.
Alba, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, was arrested and charged with murder but the Manhattan district attorney dropped the charges within weeks, saying they could not prove Alba had not acted in self-defense. Alba has since returned to the Dominican Republic, according to reports.
Before his arrival, Trump's campaign distributed materials to journalists criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for his handling of the stabbing case, including the weeks Alba spent jailed at Rikers Island. Bragg oversees the office now prosecuting Trump.
Bragg's office responded Tuesday after news of Trump's plans emerged.
Simon's death and Alba's case were “resolved nearly two years ago, and the charges were dismissed after a thorough investigation,” the statement said. “D.A. Bragg’s top priority remains combating violent crime and the office has worked hand in hand with the NYPD to drive down overall crime in Manhattan.”