This Bodega Owner Told ABC He Feared for His Life in Crime-Ridden New York — What Happened to Him Last Night Is Heartbreaking (Video)
This is the face of New York City’s soft-on-crime nightmare.
Abdul Saleh, a 28-year-old worker at his family’s Sal’s Deli & Grocery in the East Village, sat down with ABC News almost exactly a year ago and told them straight up: he feared for his safety every single day. Bodegas across the city were turning into war zones, with shoplifters, thieves, and violent criminals walking in like they owned the place. He knew the risks. He still showed up to work.
Last night, those fears became reality.
A dispute started inside the deli — over shoplifting, according to witnesses and reports — then spilled out onto Avenue B and East 13th Street. Gunfire erupted. Abdul was shot in the torso and rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A second 28-year-old man was also shot and wounded (authorities say it was a ricochet from the suspect’s own gun). No arrests have been made yet.
The heartbreaking video making the rounds shows the old ABC interview where Abdul openly worried about the violence, followed by the chaos of the aftermath.
Video:
Abdul had just returned from visiting family in Yemen. He was a hard-working guy trying to keep a small family business alive in one of the most dangerous environments Democrats have created in New York. And now he’s gone — another innocent victim of the crime wave that radical left policies have unleashed.
This isn’t “random violence.” This is what happens when you elect politicians who coddle criminals, push bail reform that lets repeat offenders walk free the same day, and treat shoplifters like they’re the real victims. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and the rest of the progressive machine in Albany have turned bodegas into easy targets while small business owners pay the ultimate price.
President Trump has been sounding the alarm on this exact chaos for years. He warned that defunding the police, no-cash bail, and catch-and-release insanity would destroy cities — and New York is Exhibit A. Under Trump, crime plummeted because he backed the blue and put law and order first. Now, with Democrats still running the show in blue cities, good people like Abdul Saleh are dying while the criminals get protected.
New York failed Abdul. The system failed him. And every politician who voted for these insane policies has blood on their hands.
RIP Abdul Saleh. He deserved better than to be gunned down in the store he helped run. America is watching, and we’re done watching innocent people pay for the left’s deadly experiment.
Pray for his family tonight. And pray that New York finally wakes up before more bodega workers, shop owners, and everyday New Yorkers become the next statistic.
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Michelle is American conservative author she is committed to the constitutional principles of individual freedom, economic liberty, limited government, personal responsibility, and traditional values. She is a libertarian and provocateur who believes in freedom and liberty for all Americans. As a passionate journalist, she works relentlessly to uncover the corruption happening in Washington, while exposing politicians and individuals who wish to do us harm. She writes for Conservative US, Right Journalism and Supreme Insider!
