Democrat Lawmaker Wants To Legalize Shoplifting

New York State Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher proposed that shoplifting should be legalized during a news conference outside the Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday. She was joined by other progressive politicians and criminal justice advocates from Court Watch NYC. The group reported that they monitored 360 arraignments over four days and found that more than half were for misdemeanor offenses.

“Most of what we saw were crimes of poverty-people who are stealing things like toothpaste, people who were stealing things like, you know, soap. And that means if you’re stealing those things, you need them.”

“And we are choosing to protect billion-dollar companies, like CVS and Walgreens, over the people who are struggling to get by. So, I would say that the true crime is that there is such incredible wealth disparity in this city that there are people who can be thrown in jail simply for having a biological need.”

New York socialist says nobody should be jailed for stealingpic.twitter.com/p3T9pYympQ

She goes off on people and "right wingers" who call for thieves to be jailed for stealing and vandalizing stores saying they are just fear-mongering

She argues that nobody should be in jail…

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 14, 2026

This is the madness that the Democratic Socialists of America promote. They are openly pushing the idea that it is perfectly fine for people to steal because stores like CVS and Walgreens are profitable. It never crosses their simple minds that even if the stealing started with things like toothpaste and soap, it would most certainly spread from there. It would never be confined to only those things that Gallagher claims are “biological needs.”

As a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, she stated that she would continue to advocate for "treatment, not jail" policies. She conveniently overlooked the fact that first-time shoplifting offenders rarely receive jail time. Furthermore, the lack of enforcement, often promoted by progressive politicians like herself, has led many drugstores to lock products in plastic and glass enclosures.

She and the other bleeding-heart liberals at the event urged their fellow comrade Mayor Zohran Mamdani to fulfill his campaign promise to eliminate what she called "broken windows policing" tactics used by NYPD officers that target low-level crimes such as graffiti and fare evasion.

On Saturday, shoppers at Food Universal supermarket in The Bronx's Co-op City expressed shock at Gallagher's remarks, which they know will encourage stealing and raise costs for law-abiding customers.

Reverend Susan Webb stated the obvious. “It’s foolish to think one should not be punished for stealing. It is a crime. Mamdani can implement that in his city-run grocery stores, so if you don’t have the necessities, you can go there and get them for free.”

Sanctioning retail theft will increase overall crime statistics, if they are even accurate. As of August 9, retail theft has decreased by 14.7 percent, and petty larceny has decreased by 5.4 percent compared to the same time last year, according to the NYPD.

Jeanette Mack, a 49-year-old academic adviser, agreed and said that Gallagher and other far-left politicians' soft-on-crime policies are “ridiculous” because “they enable shoplifting instead of helping them.”

“People are going to feel entitled because they know they can walk in and walk out and nothing will happen. Allowing people to shoplift with no consequence is wrong. I’m a single mom, and at one time I had four jobs. I would never think of stealing anything.”

“They already closed a Rite Aid around here. Now I’m worried that if they put that in place, they are definitely going to close this supermarket, and I would suffer because I’d have to drive to somewhere else instead of walking. And gas prices nowadays, that’s another thing.”

Edwin Pichado, a manager for the supermarket, echoed the same sentiment, saying Gallagher is living in a fantasy world.

“Rent is high. You have to pay workers, utilities. Goods going out, but no money coming in. We cannot run a business like that. If they see that you do nothing, they’ll keep coming back. They tell their friends, and it becomes a free for all.”

Bizarre actions and remarks are not new for Gallagher. Since being sworn into the state Assembly in January 2021, she has pushed the boundaries of reason. In October 2021, she launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for her cat's emergency surgery bill.

She has also accumulated numerous traffic and parking tickets, despite advocating for an anti-car agenda in Albany. Additionally, she has allegedly blocked constituents from posting comments she disagrees with on her social media pages.

In 2024, Gallagher participated in an anti-Israel phone bank organized by the New Jersey chapter of American Muslims for Palestine. This group has been associated with antisemitic rhetoric and is currently under investigation by the Virginia attorney general for potentially financing terrorist activities.

Gallagher's bizarre antics started well before she was elected to office.

In 2003, while she was still a student at Ithaca College, she bragged about her moronic actions, which included “mooning” a couple she spied on while they were having sex. She also threw a “homeless party,” which came to light in an online journal during her 2020 campaign, where she defeated longtime Democratic incumbent Joe Lentol.

Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens) wrote on X.

“People like Emily Gallagher try to obfuscate reality because they want to enable this very activity.

“They know it’s devastating to retail stores, and that’s the point: they’re communists and want to use crime to force these stores to close. It’s social justice.

“Soon enough we’ll be hearing about the need for government-run drug stores to replace the shops they drove out of business.”

Former Queens Councilman Robert Holden was even more blunt.

“Gallagher (a “moderate” Democrat) is a major dope.”

Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) told The NY Post that businesses in Gotham are already struggling to stay afloat, and politicians advocating for theft will drive even more of them to close down.

“This is the kind of backward, left-wing lunacy I would expect from someone who values the rights of criminals more than those of business owners. Policies that Gallagher is pushing are exactly what’s driving so many of them away.”

Think of the chaos legalized stealing would create in any city. New York has trouble prosecuting the guiltiest of the guilty, and now they want to burden the police with this nonsensical responsibility.

Gallagher and her comrades love to call President Trump and Republicans fascists and Nazis, but the only fascists on the American horizon reside in the Democratic Party, and they’re proud of it.

As a little boy, my parents taught me that nothing was free. All the Democrats are doing is hiding who’s paying for this illusion.

Still, … You Know.