Alvin Leonard Bragg Jr. (born October 21, 1973) is an American politician and lawyer who serves as the New York County District Attorney, covering Manhattan.
[2] In an interview with The American Prospect, Bragg said that he had been "deeply affected by the criminal justice system – most directly through three gunpoint stops by the NYPD".
He then joined the law firm Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello as an associate, where his work focused on white collar fraud and civil rights issues.
In 2009, Bragg left the city council to serve as assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York.
He left the position in December 2018[9] and became a professor at the New York Law School, where he was co-director of the Racial Justice Project.
[10] In June 2019, Bragg started his candidacy for the 2021 Democratic Party nomination for New York County District Attorney, then held by Cyrus Vance Jr., who did not run for reelection.
He also decided to seek lesser charges for burglaries and store robberies where the offender "displays a dangerous instrument but does not create a genuine risk of physical harm".
[17] On February 23, 2022, Carey R. Dunne and Mark F. Pomerantz, the lead prosecutors in the New York County District Attorney's investigation into Donald Trump and his businesses, resigned abruptly after Bragg "indicated to them that he had doubts about moving forward with a case against Mr.
[18] In his letter of resignation, Pomerantz wrote that the "team that has been investigating Mr. Trump harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes,[19] including falsifying business records, and that it was "a grave failure of justice"[19] not to pursue criminal charges.
[20] The Washington Post noted that Bragg was slow to meet with Dunne and Pomerantz after taking office and when they finally met to discuss the case, a source in the D.A.
[29] On July 7, 2022, Jose Alba, a 61-year-old bodega clerk, was attacked by customer Austin Simon in a dispute over a bag of potato chips.
In response, Bragg did not issue a public statement, but other officials affected by the decision accused the move as been politically motivated.