It was reported last week that Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, was seeking murder charges against Moussa Diarra, a parking garage attendant in Manhattan who had shot a thief in an act of self-defense. However, Bragg has since changed his stance and will no longer pursue charges against Diarra.
The original charges stemmed from an incident in the garage where Diarra worked on West 31st Street, where he encountered a thief peering into cars. Diarra suspected the man of stealing and asked him to reveal the contents of his bag. However, the thief had a gun, and when Diarra tried to grab it, the gun went off, injuring him in the stomach and grazing his ear. Diarra then used the gun to shoot the would-be thief in the chest.
Related: This Is Alvin Bragg: Charges Man With Attempted Murder for Shooting Back at Thief Who Shot Him
Both Diarra and the would-be robber, 59-year-old Charles Rhodie, faced identical charges of attempted murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, though Rhodie also faced attempted robbery charges.
Diarra was stunned to be facing charges.
“I got bullets in me, and I’m chained to a hospital bed, but I didn’t do anything wrong,” Diarra lamented from his hospital bed, according to a report from the New York Post.
Bragg was also charging the alleged robber, 59-year-old Charles Rhodie, with the same crimes as Diarra, but the charges against Diarra sparked significant outrage.
“One of my first thoughts was a political football, and this gentleman shouldn’t become a political football,” Meyers Parking’s Chief Operating Officer Michael Carolan said.
“Here’s a gentleman who’s just a hardworking individual doing his job,” Carolan said of Diarra. “You just think you’re doing the right thing. The altercation happens because of the other individual, not our guy. He’s reacting.”
“My understanding is they saw [Rhodie] kind of in between vehicles,” Carolan explained. “So, they brought him downstairs, and there was a conversation about a bag and wanting to make sure he didn’t take anything while he was up there for that brief time. He pulled out a gun, and [Diarra’s] flight or fight kicks in. I’m sure he was nervous and panicked and reacted.”
Bragg’s record on crime has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of what many believe to be politically motivated charges against Donald Trump. Many have pointed out that Bragg has often downgraded felony charges to misdemeanors and that he hasn’t pursued jail time for many crimes. As a result of Bragg’s weak-on-crime record, the crime rate in Manhattan has skyrocketed.
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