• Jose Alba, 61, was attacked behind the counter of the Manhattan bodega where he worked on July 1 by 35-year-old Austin Simon
• Alba defended himself and in the ensuing fight Simon was stabbed to death
• He was charged with murder but the charges were dropped amid an outcry
• Now he’s suing Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for racial discrimination 

Fiona Connor – Daily Mail Oct 1, 2023

A former bodega clerk is suing woke Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for racial discrimination after he was slung into Rikers Island prison for killing an attacker in self defense.

Jose Alba was charged with second-degree murder after stabbing ex-con Austin Simon in the neck and chest on July 1, 2022, at a Blue Moon bodega in Harlem.

Following an outpouring of anger at the decision to prosecute, on July 19, Bragg’s office asked a judge to drop the charges against Alba after having faced intense backlash, including criticism from the city’s mayor.

Now Alba taking on the New York City Police Department and Bragg with claims he was a pawn in the DA’s pursuit of ‘racial equity’, according to the Manhattan Federal Court papers filed Friday.

The suit names NYPD Detective William Garcia along with unnamed arresting officers and police detectives.

‘While in theory, Bragg’s ‘racial equity’ policies are a well-intentioned attempt by him to implement even-handed justice, the means and methods employed by Bragg have instead had an opposite effect and resulted in discrimination against certain defendants based on race,’ it states.

Alba was working at the Blue Moon deli on July 1 when he fatally stabbed Simon in the neck and chest.

Surveillance footage clearly showed that Simon had moved behind the counter at the convenience store in Hamilton Heights and pushed the store clerk into a stack of shelves before grabbing him.

It was only then that Alba reached over to a shelf and pulled out a knife to fight back.

During the altercation, Alba was apparently stabbed by Simon’s girlfriend, who instigated the argument when her benefits card was declined. The girlfriend was never charged in the incident.

Despite Alba’s claims of self-defense Bragg charged the clerk with second-degree murder and requested a $500,000 bail to be set, although it was lowered to $250,000.

The store clerk was unable to pay the bill and was shipped to Rikers where he claims to have endured ‘inhumane and unconstitutional conditions,’ according to the suit.

Rikers Island is a 413-acre island in the East River in the Bronx that contains New York City’s largest jail.

Bragg’s decision spurred vicious backlash, including Mayor Eric Adams, and former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

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