Gov. Hochul Blames District Attorneys for “Undercharging” Dangerous Criminals

By Yehudit Garmaise

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has said she had no plans to further change New York’s current bail laws, blamed local district attorneys for downgrading charges and releasing dangerous criminals without bail, when she spoke at the Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach on Saturday.

For instance, after Van Phu Bui brutally attacked Jesus Cores, 52, in the Bronx last week, the NYPD charged the insane criminal with attempted murder.

But when lawyers who work for Bronx District attorney Darcel Clark evaluated the case, the Bronx DA’s office lessened the NYPD’s charges of attempted murder to assault and harassment, and a judge released Bui without bail after he confessed to the crime.

“Just yesterday you may have seen there was one person [Bui] whom judges let out; They undercharged him,” the governor said on Saturday. “When you knock someone down who is struggling for his life, that’s not a misdemeanor, that’s attempted murder, and you should not be walking the streets of New York.”

After The New York Post’s coverage of Bui’s release sparked citywide outrage, Gov. Hochul said her administration contacted “the Bronx District Attorney’s Office to talk about the actual charges that were filed because we want to make sure that our laws are being properly executed.”

“I need the district attorneys and the judges to do their jobs, and when they don’t as the governor I’ll be there,” said Gov. Hochul, who seemed to take credit when Bui was taken back into custody.

Many New Yorkers on Twitter wondered whether the governor would insist that every violent criminal stays locked up, and not just those whose stories are splashed on the front pages of the New York Post.

“Great! Now we just need an individual @nypost cover story, for every single violent crime, to persuade @GovKathyHochul to do her job,” Twitter user @patrickgrheaume wrote after Bui was apprehended, the New York Post reported.