Statement on ICE in NYC and the Shooting of Oscar Belgal

On the afternoon of Thursday, October 8, while the streets were busy with commuters and children returning from school, ICE agents fired seven bullets into a moving car. Oscar Belgal, 28, was driving, and his 5 year old son was in the back seat. The car crashed into a concrete barrier when Oscar was shot in the neck while his traumatized son watched, crying.

There isn’t enough outrage, there aren’t enough tears, to match the level of depravity our federal government is inflicting on our communities. The Nazis had Brownshirts, Fascist Italy had Blackshirts, Sudan has Janjaweed, Iran has Basij, China had the Red Guard, and we have ICE. These organized paramilitary forces around the globe and through history have been organized for the sole purpose of terrorizing residents to suppress political opposition. Hiding behind the dubious justification of “law enforcement” ICE is a political terror squad designed to intimidate and reinforce the depraved concept of white supremacy.

Community Church of New York stands in full opposition to both the violence perpetuated by this state-sponsored militia and to their existence in total. The fabricated crisis of mass immigration does not warrant roving death squads. Criminal charges must be brought against each perpetrator, every person held captive in “detention centers” must be released, and ICE must be dismantled. Without these immediate actions, there is no justice, and without justice, there will never be peace.

-Rev. Peggy Clarke, Senior Minister, the Community Church of New York