A mother whose veteran son was murdered in New York City sharply rebuked Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) on Monday for downplaying a congressional hearing about violent crime in New York City.
What is the background?
Army Sgt. Hason Correa, an Afghanistan war veteran and father of three children, was killed in 2018 after a group of people beat and stabbed him.
During prosecutorial proceedings, the office of District Attorney Alvin Bragg downgraded criminal charges against two of the four perpetrators. Mary Saunders, for example, struck a plea deal for second-degree assault after prosecutors initially charged her with murder and gang assault. Ultimately, she was only sentenced to one year in prison and was granted time served.
Travis Stewart, meanwhile, only pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted assault and received 7 years in prison. Christopher Saunders was convicted of two counts of gang assault and received 20 years to life, and James Saunders received the same sentence after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and gang assault.
What happened at the hearing?
Correa’s mother, Madeline Brame, was one of several New York City residents who testified at a House hearing about crime problems in the Big Apple.
At one point, Goldman called the hearing a “charade” that he claimed was designed to distract from Bragg’s criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
“Your experiences are devastating,” he said. “But the problem is that this is a charade to cover up for an abuse of power that they are going around, talking incessantly outside of this hearing about Donald Trump. And the purpose of this hearing is to cover up for what they know to be an inappropriate investigation.”
That’s when Brame interjected.
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” she said. “You’re trying to insult me like I’m not aware of what’s going on here.
“I’m fully aware of what’s going on here,” she continued. “That’s why I walked away from the plantation of the Democratic Party.”
Before the fiery outburst, Brame had observed how Democrats were focusing their attention on Trump, rather than the issue of crime in New York City. Goldman had told Brame that focus was “intentional.”
VIRAL MOMENT: Mother Of Homicide Victim Excoriates Dan Goldman, Democrats In House Judiciary Hearingwww.youtube.com
Goldman, moreover, claimed that Congress lacks jurisdiction to help fix New York City’s crime problems. But Brame later disputed that in an interview after the hearing.
“Yes, they do. It could be one dollar — one federal dollar — that Alvin Bragg’s office is getting. They have a right to investigate it and find out where that money is being spent,” she said.
Brame also explained why she screamed at Goldman.
“You know they all made remarks about us being used, about us being props, about how it was a political stunt,” she told the Daily Mail, “and you know he was one of the last ones, by the time we got to him, I was just done with it. So that’s why my reaction was like that.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!