Maricopa County, Arizona, prosecutor Rachel Mitchell said Wednesday she will not extradite a New York murder suspect back to the state because Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg cannot be trusted to keep the man locked up, the New York Post reported.
"Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by the Manhattan DA there, Alvin Bragg," Mitchell said in a press conference. "I think it's safer to keep him here and keep him in custody, so that he cannot be out doing this to individuals either in our state, county, or anywhere in the United States."
Raad Almansoori, 26, was apprehended by Arizona police on Sunday as a suspect, following the stabbing of a McDonald's employee and carjacking of another woman.
New York police have linked him to the Feb. 7 slaying of 38-year-old Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, who was working as an escort when she and Almansoori allegedly "got into a dispute over how much time he could spend in the room," before the argument turned deadly, according to New York City Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
"It is deeply disturbing that D.A. Mitchell is playing political games in a murder investigation," spokesperson Emily Tuttle said in a statement to The New York Times.
Bragg has come under fire of late for allowing a group of illegal migrants to be released on bail following the brutal beating of New York City police officers in Times Square.
"New York's murder rate is less than half that of Phoenix, Ariz., because of the hard work of the N.Y.P.D. and all of our law enforcement partners," she continued. "It is a slap in the face to them and to the victim in our case to refuse to allow us to seek justice and full accountability for a New Yorker's death."
Mitchell promptly responded on X on Wednesday afternoon posting, "It's great to see the @ManhattanDA finally take interest in violent crime. My job is to focus on the victims I was elected to protect."
Mitchell rose to national prominence in 2021 when she served as outside counsel to Senate Republicans during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and questioned Kavanaugh's sexual assault accuser, Christine Blasey Ford.
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