‘Squad’ Candidate Arrested During Clash With NYPD During Anti-ICE Protest

A protest outside a New York hospital turned into a confrontation with police Thursday evening after an ICE agent shot a man during an attempted arrest in the Marble Hill area. Video showed Democratic Socialist of America congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier falling amid the clash.

The man, Oscar Belgal, was wounded in the neck. His five-year-old son was in the vehicle but was unharmed. Belgal received medical treatment and was later placed in federal custody.

Federal officials say Belgal drove toward officers while trying to evade arrest, prompting them to fire. His lawyers have challenged his detention and called for an investigation into the shooting.

Demonstrators gathered near the hospital where Belgal was taken. Video showed an NYPD officer in a white shirt falling or being pushed to the ground moments before Chevalier fell. Chevalier said an officer shoved her as she tried to calm the situation. The video also appears to show her participating in the protest. She separately alleged that unmarked law enforcement vehicles struck demonstrators as officers cleared a path.

Chevalier accused the NYPD of escalating the confrontation and criticized Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch for discussing Belgal’s prior encounters with law enforcement. She demanded Tisch’s resignation and called for the department’s Strategic Response Group to be disbanded. Chevalier also argued that the police response violated the spirit of New York’s sanctuary policies.

Appearing on CNN, Chevalier characterized deportation as an additional punishment and invoked the constitutional protection against double jeopardy. Host Erin Burnett first summarized the federal government’s claims about Belgal:

“DHS says that he has gang ties, two prior arrests on guns and weapons charges, that he was allegedly part of an investigation into a shooting of a Customs and Border Protection officer.

“Now, again, this is what they’re saying. So, you could take issue with it if you know more. But do you think a person who has that kind of criminal history — if that indeed ends up being the case — is a legitimate target for law enforcement to remove from the country if he’s a non-citizen?” she asked.

“That is an issue of the criminal courts, right?” Chevalier began.

“If — we have a criminal justice system in this country, and it does not make sense to me that we would subject somebody to the double jeopardy of being tried by our criminal courts and then, again, subjected to the cruelty of what we just saw yesterday, by another law enforcement agency like ICE,” she claimed.

“The additional punishment being here, of course, deportation and permanent separation from your family.”

The constitutional protection against double jeopardy concerns repeated criminal prosecution for the same offense. Chevalier argued that deportation after criminal proceedings amounted to an additional punishment.

Her position contrasts with polling that has generally shown broad public support for ICE, immigration enforcement and police, including among many Democrats.