GOP attorney general hopeful Saritha Komatireddy ripped Democratic socialist Emily Gallagher for defending “biological need” shoplifting.
Komatireddy, 41, a former federal prosecutor challenging incumbent Democrat Letitia James, 67, in November’s election, unloaded on the Brooklyn assemblywoman Thursday outside a South Ozone Park gas station mart in Queens. The Republican nominee said Gallagher was “off her rocker” for suggesting needy New Yorkers should be allowed to steal basic necessities like soap and toothpaste from stores.
“The scenario that you’re hearing from people like Emily Gallagher, that’s not what is actually happening,” Komatireddy said outside the Queens convenience store. “If you look at the cases, the people who are stealing from stores, they come here with a big truck.”
“They go in there with garbage bags, and they swipe everything off a shelf, put it into a garbage bag, load it into the truck, and then they drive down a couple of blocks into a different neighborhood or a different city, and they resell it,” she explained. “That’s the kind of crime that is affecting small business owners.”
Komatireddy, who spent over a decade as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York, said theft of any kind hurts hard-working retailers and ultimately consumers. She said the Democratic socialist lawmaker “just hasn’t done her homework” on the reality of retail crime in the state.
“People make comments like that, it’s because they haven’t done the work,” Komatireddy said. “I’ve done the work.”
The Republican candidate also took aim at her opponent James, claiming organized theft rings represent organized crime and that the attorney general has the means to crack down but hasn’t prioritized it. Komatireddy, who served as chief of staff at the Drug Enforcement Administration and was nominated by President Trump to a federal judgeship in 2020, said James has misplaced her focus.
“She has assigned twice as many people to prosecute cops, than organized crime,” Komatireddy railed. “And we are seeing the result. Criminals are in control, and innocent New Yorkers are paying the price.”
Komatireddy cited an exclusive report about Shaquan Seth, a career crook with nearly 150 busts on his rap sheet who remained free because of the Empire State’s lax bail laws. The case has become a flashpoint in debates over criminal justice reform in New York.
In the viral moment that sparked Komatireddy’s Thursday press conference, Gallagher had suggested last week that shoplifting for products like soap and toothpaste should be fair game for sticky-fingered thieves, claiming they are being stolen by needy New Yorkers who can’t afford them. The socialist lawmaker whined that the criminal justice advocacy group Court Watch NYC had monitored 360 arraignments over four days and maintained that most of the petty thieves needed the items they were stealing.
“We are choosing to protect billion-dollar companies like CVS and Walgreens over the people who are struggling to get buy,” Gallagher told reporters.
Komatireddy, born in Brooklyn to immigrant parents from India and a graduate of Harvard Law School, has built her campaign around restoring law and order. She told NY1 in a previous interview that she was motivated to run after worrying about her family’s safety in New York.
“I thought to myself, ‘Well, what’s the point of chasing international terrorists and cybercriminals overseas? If right here at home, I’m worried about my family’s safety?'” she said.
Komatireddy received the Republican nomination for attorney general in February with 86.3 percent of the delegate vote at the party’s convention in Garden City, Long Island. She faces a steep uphill battle against James, who has held the post since 2019 and was the first woman of color to serve as New York’s top law enforcement official.
The general election for New York Attorney General is scheduled for November 3.