The mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, announced that he will examine together with the police commissioner Jessica Tisch what happened in the 24 hours after the October 8 shooting at Marble Hill, where a federal immigration agent (ICE) wounded a 28-year-old man who was in a car with the five-year-old son. The review will cover both the circumstances of the federal operation and the behavior of NYPD agents intervened on the spot and during subsequent protests.
In an interview released on Sunday, October 11 at MS NOW, Mamdani criticized the procedure. Federal agents wore civilian clothes, masks and vests similar to those used in the yards, while at least one of them held a long weapon. According to the mayor, those who witnessed the scene could have exchanged them for armed people who were shooting, rather than for members of the law enforcement.
The episode dates back to the afternoon of Thursday, when ICE agents attempted to arrest Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican citizen, near West 225th Street and Marble Hill Avenue. According to the preliminary reconstruction of NYPD, at least one federal agent exploded seven hits against the car, wounding Belgal to the neck, just under the left ear. The child in the back seat remained unharmed. The Department of Homeland Security claims that the man used the vehicle to jeopardize the agents, a version on which they are still under investigation.
The city police had not participated in the federal operation and arrived after the shootings. NYPD agents rescued Belgal, who was on the ground handcuffed, and transported him to the hospital. However, their management of the following hours became the subject of disputes, especially as it happened during the events organized against the ICE. Some videos show police officers in the city as they force the protesters away. Among the people pushed to the ground figure Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic candidate for Congress, who asked for the resignation of Tisch.
The criticisms also came from the New York section of the Democratic Socialists of America, the political organization near Mamdani. In a Friday statement, the group accused NYPD of facilitating federal agents and asked the mayor to remove Tisch if he cannot prevent further forms of collaboration with the ICE. The municipality replied that it is not expected to replace the Commissioner. The police also specified that the Strategic Response Group, the unit specialized in the management of protests and several times contested by activists, was not present during Marble Hill demonstrations.
Mamdani condemned the use of force against protesters, but did not accept the requests for resignation of the commissioner. The review announced on Sunday will help rebuild the decisions taken by NYPD in the hours after the shooting. It is distinct from the investigation conducted by the district attorney of the Bronx, Darcel Clark, on the circumstances in which the federal agent opened the fire.
The question of Belgal’s detention remains open. The mayor confirmed that, in the hours following the shooting, President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin asked him to take custody of the man from NYPD. Mamdani said he was opposed, asking what warrant would allow the city police to proceed. On Friday, a federal judge temporarily blocked Belgal’s expulsion, while his lawyers challenge the legitimacy of detention.
L’articolo Mamdani wants to clarify the role of NYPD after ICE shooting proviene da IlNewyorkese.
