Letters to the Editor — July 11, 2023
The Issue: A CVS employee who was charged with murder after he stabbed a shoplifter who attacked him.
When will the New York state Legislature wake up and begin to realize that coddling criminals while tying the hands of police and prosecutors is just not working (“Rx for chaos,” July 8)?
The only justice this system seems to be delivering is injustice to people who stand up to those who threaten their fellow citizens or break the law.
The latest case involving Scotty Enoe, a CVS employee, is yet another unfortunate example of the system’s collapse.
It seems irrefutable that the failure of the justice system to punish Charles Brito, who had 14 previous arrests for shoplifting, encouraged him to continue on the path that led to his death and resulted in Enoe being charged with murder.
Perhaps the only thing that will awaken our apathetic lawmakers is when the public has had enough and pulls levers for their opposition. Time to get it done, New York.
John Kapica
Carmel
The idea that shoplifting is not a violent crime is just plain false. It isn’t violent until it is.
Poor Scotty Enoe was just trying to work his overnight shift at CVS. He would have made more money just shoplifting for 10 minutes. One thing is clear: Self-defense is now illegal.
Carol Meltzer
Manhattan
A shoplifter assaulted a CVS employee who tried to stop his crime, and the thief died when the employee justifiably defended himself.
This violence is the predictable, bloody consequence of Democratic legislators’ refusal to incarcerate criminals.
Multiplying the damage, however, is the reckless and irresponsible Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose unfathomable message to victims is that they should not even try to defend themselves or others from vicious assaults lest they face possible murder charges and years of prison time.
And all could have been avoided by the simple, moral and crime-deterring act of putting the lawbreaker in jail in the first place.
Marc E. Kasowitz
Manhattan
Again, Bragg has taken the side of a repeat offender and charged a security officer for defending himself.
Bragg is supported by useful idiots such as Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who believes the criminals are victims of “white supremacy.”
While the governor and mayor stick their empty heads into the ground, the outlaws have taken over the streets, the police have their hands tied, and victims of violence are not allowed to defend themselves.
Unfortunately, New York is now in the wrong hands. As a result, those who once made the city a desirable place to live and work have lost the freedom to walk safely down the street.
Nicholas Maffei
Yonkers
New York City’s prosecutors have sunk to new lows. Only in this city could so many victims of crime be charged for protecting themselves through self-defense — most recently a CVS employee fighting off a shoplifter who was assaulting him.
I no longer visit New York City due to the criminal climate. It won’t be long before the city becomes like “Escape from New York,” a movie in which the city is walled off from the rest of the country and run by criminals with no police presence.
It’s no wonder folks are moving away.
Paul Burgdorf
Latham
Current New York City officials are not upholding or enforcing the laws, which is pushing citizens to take matters into their own hands.
What is scary is these actions will continue due to citizens reaching the breaking point and feeling ignored by city officials.
Societies collapse into chaos when criminals run free to violate anybody. Bragg and his minions obviously don’t feel that way because they have the police protection the rest of the citizens wish they had for their safety and the interests of business owners.
Greg Raleigh
Washington, DC
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