Victims of violent crime to testify before House Judiciary hearing
NYC Judiciary hearing witnesses Jennifer Harrison and Madeline Brame joined 'Fox & Friends First' alongside Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., to discuss the hearing as crime cripples city streets.
Victims of violent crime expressed outrage after New York City Mayor Eric Adams called the Big Apple the "safest big city in America" as House Republicans investigate District Attorney Alvin Bragg's progressive crime policies.
Madeline Brame lost her son, Sgt. Hason Correa, in 2018 after he was stabbed to death in Harlem. The Army veteran was a father of three. His convicted killer received 20 years to life behind bars, but two other defendants in the case were offered plea deals.
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"What happened to him can happen to anybody," Brame said during "Fox & Friends First" on Monday. "It's been happening every day, all day across this city. So no matter what you Mayor Adams says about this being the safest city in America… that's a bunch of nonsense, because what's happening on a daily basis in black and brown communities."
"When we have a society that is completely lawless like that, a society cannot stand. And it's decaying from the inside out, especially in black and brown communities," she continued. "So I think it is very, very disrespectful… and very hypocritical and disingenuous of Mayor Adams to even make that statement… when he knows good and well what's happening in the hood on a daily basis."
Brame will testify Monday as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s field hearing in New York City to "examine how Bragg’s pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents."
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Jennifer Harrison, founder of Victims Rights NY, will also testify before Congress. Her boyfriend was stabbed to death in a brutal double homicide in N.J. in 2005. Two of the three suspects walked free while a third served minimal jail time.
"It's reprehensible, and it's completely out of touch with reality," Harrison said regarding Adams' remarks on the city's safety. "Almost immediately after Alvin Bragg's tenure started, he issued a day one memo. We saw two police officers gunned down. A 19-year-old girl was murdered in Burger King when she was at work. Michelle Go was murdered… Kristal Nieves, Christina Lee, Alvin Bragg is all responsible for prosecuting those cases. We haven't heard how they're being handled, so I don't understand how anybody could feel safe here."
Violent felony offense complaints jumped from 35,964 in 2020 to 38,645 in 2021 and then to 45,529 in 2022, according to New York Police Department data released earlier this year. Additionally, the total number of felony offenses — both violent and non-violent — rose from 95,593 in 2020 to 102,741 in 2021 to 126,589 in 2022.
While the city has experienced a recent jump in crime for certain offenses, it is not at a record high like it was in past decades. Previous NYPD data revealed there were nearly 530,000 major felony offenses in 1990 and more than 160,000 major felony offenses in 2001.
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Even so, Harrison argued politicians have prioritized criminals over victims with their left-wing policies, with Bragg enduring targeted heat in wake of the Trump indictment.
"For so long, victims of violent crime and survivors of homicide victims have been erased from this equation and silenced, and I'm just grateful, beyond grateful that we have a voice today and got to shed some light on what is happening here in hopes of changing the depraved indifference towards human life that's sweeping across the country," she said.
Barry Borgen, whose son was beaten in an antisemitic hate crime, will also testify before lawmakers, alongside Democratic NYC Councilman Robert Holden and Paul DiGiacomo, who is the president of the NYC Detectives' Endowment Association.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan will lead the charge, and said Congress will likely visit other cities to help shed light on the nationwide crime wave.
Fox News' Kyle Morris, Brianna Herlihy and Brooke Singman contributed to this article.