Socialist Lawmaker Suggests Shoplifters Should Get Pass If They Steal For ‘Biological Need’

By Mark Tanos

A New York socialist lawmaker says people who swipe basic goods from stores shouldn’t face charges because they have a “biological need” for what they take.

State Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher made the argument Thursday at a news conference outside Manhattan Criminal Court, according to the New York Post. Gallagher is a Democrat who represents parts of northern Brooklyn. She told reporters that most theft cases she had reviewed involved essentials, and that arresting anyone over such items amounts to punishing poverty.

“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,” Gallagher said in a video posted on X. She added that the city protects “billion-dollar companies, like CVS and Walgreens” over struggling residents, and called it a “true crime” that people can be jailed “simply for having a biological need.” (RELATED: Democrats Want ID For Hot Pockets But Not For Voting?)

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

Gallagher joined other left-wing officials and advocates from Court Watch NYC at the event, the Post reported. The group said it tracked 360 arraignments across four days and found more than half involved misdemeanor charges. The officials pressed Mayor Zohran Mamdani to abandon “broken windows” enforcement targeting low-level offenses.

A member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Gallagher wants to swap jail for treatment and has backed easing penalties on fare evasion and public urination, according to Todd Starnes. She shared the clip on her own X account, writing that no one should be arrested or jailed for taking toothpaste. Her district covers Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Retailers have locked merchandise behind plastic cases as Walgreens estimates roughly $250,000 in losses per store, Starnes reported.

Councilwoman Joann Ariola told the Post that lawmakers “now advocating for thievery is going to push even more of them to close shop.” Councilwoman Vickie Paladino wrote on X that officials like Gallagher “want to enable this very activity.”

A Manhattan Rite Aid closed in 2022 after experiencing $100,000 per month in losses due to theft. “They come in every day, sometimes twice a day, with laundry bags and just load up on stuff,” a store employee said.

In another city, rampant shoplifting caused enormous losses to a grocery store that served thousands of people, threatening to cause its closure.

Shoplifting causes price increases for law-abiding shoppers. Grocery stores aren’t the most lucrative industry. They have a profit margin of only one percent. So when stores lose merchandise due to shoplifting, they have no choice but to pass those costs on to consumers, by raising prices.

Shoplifting is often done to make money, not obtain food for personal consumption. As a former staffer of a progressive think-tank observed, “the shoplifting surge is not people feeding their starving families; packaged goods are getting stolen in bulk and resold on Facebook Marketplace and elsewhere.”