MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — On the heels of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charging former President Donald Trump, U.S. House Republicans came to Manhattan Monday to highlight what they say is a real crime problem.

The Republicans held what is known as a field hearing to listen to the victims of violent crime. Democrats called the move a political stunt that lasted four hours.

“We welcome everyone to this hearing on the victims of violent crimes in Manhattan,” said Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

The committee came to New York to hear from witnesses like Jose Alba, a bogeda clerk who was briefly prosecuted for defending himself before the charges were dropped, and Madeline Brame, the mother of an Army Veteran who was stabbed to death in Harlem.

Jordan said the point of the hearing is to highlight so-called “radical” district attorneys like Bragg, who has downgraded and decided not to prosecute certain crimes to, in his words, balance fairness with public safety.

“What better place to start in New York City,” Jordan said. “The district attorney has earned a reputation for caring more about the perpetrators of crimes than the victim.”

Before the hearing at a press conference, the Democrats called the proceeding a stunt, coming on the heels of Trump’s historic indictment on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

“This hearing is being called for one reason, and one reason, only, to protect Donald Trump,” said Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat.

Nadler said the goal of the hearing was to intimidate Bragg, and if Republicans were serious about crime, they would talk about gun control.

During the hearing, Democrats often engaged with scholars who attempted to explain that crime rates in Manhattan and all of New York City were lower than most of the country, namely due to the lack of stricter gun control than in Republican-run states.

It led Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline to take this dig at Jordan’s home state. “How do we move this to a place that has a serious crime problem, for instance, the state of Ohio,” he said.

At points during the hearing, some were removed for shouting that Democrats were being too callous about crime. Outside there were protesters who felt the exact opposite. Both sides accused the other of cherrypicking statistics to make their cases.

PIX11 News looked at NYPD data, which shows that year to date major crime such as murder rape and assault is basically flat in New York City.

It is up 45% from two years ago. But it’s not nearly as bad as in the early 1990s, which was about 71% worse.

In Manhattan, specifically, year-to-date murders are down 9%, but felony assaults are up 6%.

For his part, Bragg, who took office at the beginning of 2022, created a Twitter thread with his own choice of NYPD statistics showing crime is down year over year.