The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY), a chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the shooting of a New York man by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the Bronx while his five-year-old son was inside the vehicle.
SEE: ICE agents fired at driver in New York City while in car with 5-year-old
According to CNN, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that NYPD surveillance footage captured the victim backing into a parking spot when a plainclothes federal officer approached the driver’s side window with a gun drawn. A second plainclothes officer approached near the vehicle’s driver-side headlight. The vehicle then began moving forward and went out of the camera’s view.
Authorities reported that an ICE agent fired seven rounds, striking the driver in the neck below his left ear. The man survived, and his five-year-old son was physically unharmed.
In a statement, CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher, Esq., said:
“Masked men were pretending to be construction workers and aimed guns at an unassuming father in a vehicle with his 5-year-old child. The terror he must have felt is palpable. Any parent would have tried to protect themselves and their child from the immediate threat to their lives by moving their vehicle.
These ICE tactics are not only immoral, but they also endanger everyone in the immediate vicinity. Innocent bystanders and family members become terrorized by these agents who act recklessly, without value to life and safety.
CAIR-NY stands in solidarity with those demanding the withdrawal of ICE off of our NYC streets. NYC is the land that epitomizes the beauty of immigrant diversity, and we will never accept the abuse and horror inflicted by ICE upon our communities.”
CAIR-NY’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR-NY es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT
Afaf Nasher, Esq. CAIR-NY Executive Director, [email protected]
CAIR-NY Communications Team, [email protected]