DSA demands Mamdani fire NYPD commish Jessica Tisch over ICE shooting

Why? Because when Commissioner Jessica Tisch spoke about the shooting, she identified the "individual who was shot" and listed off his previous crimes in New York. "The individual who was shot has been identified as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal," Tisch said. "He has two prior arrests in New York City. One for robbery in 2023, in which he pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny and received five years' probation, and one for criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2025, which is still pending. At this time, federal agents have exercised their authority to take over the investigation." She also explained that ICE agents were in plainclothes.

Within 20 minutes of the report of the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the man was an illegal alien from the Dominican Republic. Oscar Belgal (Bergal in court docs, Bengal in other reports) has gang ties and criminal convictions for grand larceny, multiple assaults, drug possession and weapons possession. DHS vowed to deport him. Then a judge said no, claiming that Bergal has filed a motion to stay in the US.

"He has associations to the Trinitarios gang," DHS said. "The same gang who brutally killed an officer last year. This criminal illegal alien was arrested by the NYPD on December 7, 2023 but was released into the community a few days later." A judge had set him free despite his convictions and crimes. When federal agents finally were able to catch up with him, he refused to obey officers and he was shot, putting his 5-year-old son, who was in the car, in danger.

In the Thursday night press conference, Mamdani said of ICE, "There is no explanation for these tactics. There is no explanation for federal officers firing this many rounds into a car that has a five-year-old in the car, there is no explanation. We are standing here so close to the site of where this actually took place, and look at how many people live right here. This is a residential neighborhood.

"We are right here by a subway, and the pretext of ICE is, in their words, to keep this country safe. How is it keeping anyone safe to have, as you just heard from the police commissioner, individuals wearing construction vests in masks with long guns? Residents have no idea if these are law enforcement agents or if they are simply attacking someone on the street. And when it comes to ICE, it begs the question: What's the difference? There is no explanation for this."

Now, the National Political Committee of the DSA, the rising socialist party in America who boasts members like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Zohran Mamdani, Daraliza Chevalier, Claire Valdez, Melat Kiros and others, has demanded that the mayor of New York fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. "We demand that Mayor Zohran Mamdani fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and use every power available to him to drive ICE out of New York City."

There are no "powers" available to Mamdani to do that. Mamdani has no power at all when it comes to federal immigration enforcement and neither does Jessica Tisch, who likely wouldn't remove them anyway given her preference for reducing crime in the city. On how he would proceed, Mamdani said, when asked, "In terms of what I will be doing with the police commissioner is a review of that entire 24-hour period."

"Socialist elected officials must lead this fight," said the DSA on their "ICE out of NYC!" memo, "not capitulate or waver in the face of political pressure or sacrifice the immigrant community for the sake of other reforms. DSA elected must use their offices to confront institutions and use every lever under their control."

Chevalier, who is running for Congress to represent New York's 13th District and has no chance of losing that race, backed up her faction, saying she planned to fight federal immigration enforcement when she gets to Washington. She claims that enforcement "only brings more violence and terror into our communities to allow these systems to terrorize folks like this."

As for Tisch, Chevalier said the commissioner "decided that it was appropriate to reference Oscar's past contact with the police as if there was anything that would ever justify having 7 rounds shot into a car with a child in it, to me, highlights the need to protect all folks in our community from this type of violence."

The DSA believes all criminals should walk free and that there should be no immigration enforcement at all. Of elected leaders who are members of the DSA, the socialist faction states: "They should not stand in opposition to those protesting to abolish ice but join their ranks as a leader figure, serving to mobilize working class people rather than retreat into political expediency while immigrant communities suffer the most."

This originally appeared in Libby Emmons' newsletter.