Hot Takes: DSA Lawmaker Gets Lit Up After Suggesting Criminals Shouldn't Get Arrested for Theft

One doesn't have to like socialists to admit that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) political party has racked up some significant primary wins across the country in states like New York, Colorado, and in Washington, D.C., over the last several weeks.

For example, three DSA-aligned candidates in New York state won their House primary races in part with some help from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a fellow DSA member. Two of the three defeated Democrat incumbents to move on to the general election, where they are likely to win.

And in Michigan, of course, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed narrowly won the Senate primary race on August 4. Though he says he's not affiliated with the DSA, he has refused to distance himself from their endorsement and previously expressed agreement with some of their positions, like defunding the police.

Not surprisingly, these victories have caused prominent members of the DSA to get cocky, to feel invincible, especially in deep blue states like New York, where socialism had already taken root well before Mamdani came on to the scene as an Assembly member and then mayor.

Among them is New York Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, a proud Democratic Socialist who, like the others, uses the Democrat Party affiliation as a vessel to advance The Message™.

Gallagher, who represents District 50, which encompasses "the North Brooklyn neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg," recently shared a video of herself emphatically stating that it was wrong to arrest someone for stealing items like toothpaste and soap, because in her view it "separates people from their jobs, support services, and loved ones. It perpetuates cycles of poverty and crime."

Interestingly, she was at an event where criticism was leveled at Mamdani and the NYPD for arrests over so-called "quality of life" and "poverty crimes" like homelessness and drugstore thefts:

No one should be arrested—much less jailed—for stealing a tube of toothpaste.

Incarceration separates people from their jobs, support services, & loved ones. It perpetuates cycles of poverty & crime.

That’s a fact, no matter how much fear mongering the right wing media does. pic.twitter.com/WjyEPGIXqU
— Emily Gallagher (@EmilyAssembly) August 13, 2026

Sometimes the best arguments against socialism are the simple ones, like this one:

This is the CVS off 14th St. in DC. You can decide crime shouldn’t have consequences. But then the rest of us get to live like prisoners with basic necessities locked behind plexiglass, waiting around to push a button so someone can bring us a tube of toothpaste. We teach children that actions have consequences.
We teach them rules matter. Then they become adults and suddenly we invent a thousand excuses for why neither should apply.

This is the CVS off 14th St. in DC. You can decide crime shouldn’t have consequences. But then the rest of us get to live like prisoners with basic necessities locked behind plexiglass, waiting around to push a button so someone can bring us a tube of toothpaste.

We teach… https://t.co/N2HYzGbpKY pic.twitter.com/8AM1DhrRuP
— Yemisi Egbewole (@yemisi) August 14, 2026

And this one:

You know what else separates people from their jobs? Rampant shoplifting. Our nearest pharmacy closed due to unchecked shoplifting. All of those employees lost their jobs. Now all the elderly people in my neighborhood have lost their closest pharmacy. Last year I witnessed a guy clear out every toothbrush and every tube of toothpaste at my local CVS. He wasn't doing that for his oral health. He was doing it to resell.

You know what else separates people from their jobs? Rampant shoplifting. Our nearest pharmacy closed due to unchecked shoplifting. All of those employees lost their jobs. Now all the elderly people in my neighborhood have lost their closest pharmacy. Last year I witnessed a guy…
— Lisa (@politeracy) August 14, 2026

Others, like this one from NYC GOP councilwoman Vickie Paladino, take time but are well worth the read:

They want you to imagine a poor mother being thrown in prison for stealing a tube of toothpaste she couldn’t afford. That has never been policy in NYC.
In reality, shoplifting of items like soap and toothpaste are usually organized and at scale, to the benefit of gangs who then sell the stolen products on the street themselves.
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.
Your toothpaste and shampoo isn’t locked up because a poor mom once stole a bottle. Walgreens and CVS aren’t closing locations citywide because they lost a few bars of soap.
This is happening because organized gangs have been allowed to constantly ransack the stores, enabled by people like Emily Gallagher.
And the rest of us pay dearly for it. When stores have to take these kinds of risks just to open, it drives up the cost of products across the board for the rest of us. Remember that next time they lecture about ‘cost of living’ here.
They just don’t care. Soon enough we’ll be hearing about the need for government-run drug stores to replace the shops they drove out of business.

Also, coming soon to the Mamdani grocery stores?

This is what's going to happen at Mamdani-Marts. https://t.co/DXPlz58BsH
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 14, 2026

Bank on it.

It's actually pretty simple: don't steal, and there will be no crime, no time away from family beyond getting a job (or perhaps some temporary help from social services) to work and help pay for the items you and your family need.

Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.

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