Version imprimableAn ICE agent attempting to arrest Oscar Belgal, a Dominican immigrant, fired seven gunshots into his car, one of them hitting him in the neck, while his five-year-old child sat in the car’s backseat. Others were on the street when the shots were fired and another ICE agent walked nearby carrying an assault rifle.
Mamdani issued a statement saying, “This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation. I have called the President; when we spoke, I demanded that he end all ICE enforcement actions in our city. I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities. Abolish ICE.”
Thousands of New Yorkers rallied and marched through the city chanting “ICE Out of New York” and “Abolish ICE.” Speakers demanded the release of Belgal and for the indictment of the ICE agent involved in the shooting.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the agency that runs ICE, said that their operation had been lawful and that Belgal had been in the United States for the past three years, during which he participated in “extensive criminal activity.”
While Mamdani’s statement was consistent with his opposition to ICE, the NYC Democratic Socialist of America (DSA), of which he is a member, issued a statement implicitly critical of Mamdani, saying, “Jessica Tisch must get ICE out of New York and end NYPD complicity with these terrorists. If the Commissioner can’t put a stop to these injustices, she must be fired.” Tisch is a billionaire worth between $10 and $14 billion who describes herself as a “proud Zionist” and is characterized as a Democratic Party moderate. Mamdani, who inherited Tisch from the previous administration, has been reluctant to remove her.
Seventeen DSA elected officials and nominees signed a letter saying, Tisch “must end police assistance for ICE operations and disband NYPD’s Strategic Response Group — and if she won’t, she must be fired.” The Strategic Response Group is a special NYC Police Department unit that often responds to protest demonstrations and has been criticized for use of excessive force, mass arrests and violation of First Amendment rights.
Speaking at a vigil on the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Mamdani was booed by pro-Palestinian protestors after he issued a statement saying, “This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss.” Some DSA members and Palestinian groups, criticized the mayor, saying in an advertisement for the protest, “Zohran Mamdani campaigned on promises to the Palestine movement. ..Instead, he has repeatedly capitulated to Zionist pressure.”
However, Mamdani has repeatedly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel for the attacks on Palestinians. His October 7 statement went on to say, “The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children. Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed.” His use of the word “genocide” infuriated Zionists.
Mamdani finds himself criticized both by conservatives and some socialists, by Zionists and some Palestinians, but his progressive credentials remain intact: Against ICE. And Against Zionism.
