Man Shot by ICE in NYC Last Week Yet to Receive Surgery for Bullet in His Neck
Por Truthout — Truthout
Lawyers for Oscar Belgal have called for his immediate release, citing inadequate care.
Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a quick donation to Truthout today!
Oscar Belgal, the 28-year-old Dominican man shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York City last Thursday, has not received surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his neck for over a week.
Lawyers for Oscar Belgal have called for his immediate release, citing inadequate care.
On Wednesday, the Legal Aid Society, which is representing Belgal, filed a habeas corpus petition decrying ICE’s “flagrant abuses of authority and categorically lawless conduct.”
ICE agents attacked Belgal in Manhattan on October 8 around 4 PM, soon after he picked up his 5-year-old son from school. The Legal Aid Society’s petition describes ICE’s sudden attack, noting that “an anonymous, masked man stormed Oscar’s driverside window with his firearm drawn, followed closely behind by several other masked men also wielding firearms. The men did not identify themselves, show any documents or otherwise communicate with Oscar in any substantive way.” They were all wearing civilian clothing, the report added.
The petition goes on to describe the attack against Belgal, as an ICE agent shot into his car “while his son cowered in the back seat.” ICE agents then “pinned him to the ground” and left him semi-conscious, without aid. Only later, when he woke up in a hospital, did the agents identify themselves as ICE officers.
Days later, the petition explains, the bullet remains lodged in his neck, and Belgal has “experienced a loss of sensation in half of his face, as well as hearing loss in his left ear, and has not received surgery to remove the bullet from his neck.”
Lawyers from the Legal Aid Society said Thursday that ICE has held Belgal in solitary confinement, under 24-hour lockdown. Initially detained in New Jersey, he was moved on October 9 to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn – the same jail where former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held.
Legal Aid Society lawyers said Wednesday that this is “a facility notorious for medical neglect.”
“With a bullet still lodged in his neck and his serious medical needs unmet, every additional day in custody puts him at further risk. The Court must intervene and order his immediate release,” they added.
Belgal’s shooting last week spurred a renewal of protests against ICE in New York City. Protestors demanded an end to ICE’s presence in the city and called for the abolition of the agency. In addition, demonstrators have called for an end to ICE’s use of local parking lots – and for city police commissioner Jessica Tisch to resign. Activists who attended a Manhattan protest that erupted the night of the shooting reported seeing NYPD “helping the ICE vehicles whisk away our neighbors and come in and out of the hospital.”
Truthout is one of only a few platforms for justice-oriented, grassroots journalism. Today, we face an existential threat.
Due to Google’s launch of AI search, we’ve seen a drastic plunge in our site traffic and, as a result, our revenue. We lost 15 percent of our readership overnight. This was a readership we painstakingly built over decades, and it vanished because Google chose corporate greed over a healthy democracy.
We are fundraising right now to meet our basic operating expenses. If you can support Truthout with a one-time or monthly donation, you will make a significant impact on our work. Anything you can do makes a difference — we appreciate your support.
This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the following terms:
Shireen Akram-Boshar is a socialist writer, editor and Middle East/North Africa solidarity activist.
Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day.
Truthout must raise $41,000 for our basic publishing costs this month. We are appealing to our readers to make a one-time or monthly donation. Donate now if you can!
Fonte: Truthout