Darializa Avila Chevalier, a socialist candidate who recently won the Democratic primary for New York's 13th congressional district, is facing backlash for her views on crime and punishment, particularly her reluctance to state whether murderers should be imprisoned. Chevalier, who advocates for abolishing prisons and police, was pressed on her stance during a recent interview with the New York Editorial Board.
When asked directly what should happen to someone who has killed another person, Chevalier responded by discussing her perspective as a "prison abolitionist," emphasizing the need to address the root causes of crime and highlighting how prisons disproportionately affect Black and Latino individuals. She stated that many clients at the public defender's office where she works are poor, Black, or Latino, and their alleged crimes are often linked to poverty.
Chevalier expressed a desire to create a society where people feel safe enough not to need police. When pressed further on the specific consequence for a murderer, she elaborated on the negative impacts of incarceration, describing prisons as traumatizing environments where individuals cannot reflect on their actions or feel remorse due to the struggle for survival. She suggested that some individuals commit crimes due to extreme stress and that people sometimes commit crimes to access medical care in jail.
Despite repeated attempts by interviewers to elicit a clear answer on whether murderers should be incarcerated, Chevalier largely skirted the question, referring to the current reality of incarceration as tragic and stating that her focus is on the world she wishes to see. This non-answer drew criticism from various commentators, including some Democrats, who deemed her positions too extreme for the party.
Chevalier's primary win came amidst scrutiny over past social media posts. These included controversial statements on interracial relationships, where she referred to white women involved with Black and Arab men as "ugly colonizers." She has also called for abolishing borders, stated that all deportations are wrong, and has been criticized for joking about wiping her hands on the American flag and describing the U.S. as a "disgrace."
Previously, Chevalier has referred to President Joe Biden as a "rapist" and "war criminal" and expressed intrigue with "the pyromania associated with anarchism." Her campaign has also seen her storm out of an interview after disagreeing with hosts regarding her past comments on flags and her refusal to discuss what she termed "issues" facing New York residents.