Saritha Komatireddy with two of the NYPD’s finest
Nearly One in Four OAG Grant Dollars Under Ms. James Has Gone to Activist Groups Working to Defund the Police, Eliminate Jails, Promote Cashless Bail, and Disarm Community Policing
Crime-fighting New York State attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, who will professionalize the office of attorney general to protect New Yorkers from crime, fraud, and corruption, and take the homeless and mentally ill off the streets humanely, today revealed that Attorney General Letitia James has channeled more than $54 million in taxpayer-funded grants from the Office of the Attorney General to six activist legal organizations that are proactively working to dismantle public safety in the State of New York, including a former employer that launched her career.
According to the New York State Comptroller’s public checkbook database, nearly one-quarter of all $226 million in grants OAG has paid out under Ms. James since she took office in January 2019 have gone to anti-police groups.
A summary of where the $54 million went:
$3,350,116 to Mobilization For Justice — publicly called to “Defund the NYPD” while collecting Ms. James’s checks, stating: “Defund the police because during a pandemic, we need food, shelter, and healthcare. Not police.” “Defund the NYPD and redistribute the funds to services that actually benefit people.” Ms. James more than tripled OAG’s grant funding to Mobilization for Justice.
$6,495,936 to The Legal Aid Society — Ms. James’s former employer, which “fights to make pretrial detention obsolete” and “challenge the use of money bail,” and works toward “a collective future without jails.” Ms. James more than tripled OAG’s grant funding to The Legal Aid Society.
$6,971,387 to the New York Legal Assistance Group — fighting to bar police from interacting with the homeless. Ms. James more than tripled OAG’s grant funding to the New York Legal Assistance Group.
$8,192,613 to the Empire Justice Center — campaigning to ban police from making traffic stops for traffic violations. Ms. James more than doubled OAG’s grant funding to the Empire Justice Center.
$20,905,619 to Legal Services NYC and its borough affiliates which are campaigning to remove police from New York City public schools, over the objections of parents and students. Ms. James more than tripled OAG’s grant funding to Legal Services NYC and its borough affiliates.
$8,238,213 to the Western New York Law Center — currently suing the Buffalo Police Department for increasing its neighborhood presence after community members asked for it. Ms. James more than tripled OAG’s grant funding to the Western New York Law Center.
“The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the state. She is supposed to be a trusted law enforcement partner,” Ms. Komatireddy said. “AG James is the opposite. While laProtection Program (HOPP) to help New Yorkers facing foreclosure after the mortgage crisis. Nearly $40 million is now appropriated to HOPP every year from the state budget. The Office of Attorney General has sole discretion over how the money is spent. Ms. James has used her discretion to ramp up HOPP grant funding to these anti-police organizations, tripling their funding.
“The effect is doubly detrimental. Not only is this a blatant misuse of funds – diverting housing money to far-left anti-police advocacy. It also actively undermines public safety in New York. This ends when I become Attorney General.”