Far-left congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier on Thursday reiterated her call for NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to resign following last week’s shooting by ICE agents in Marble Hill. But she insists this did not cause a rift with Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Avila Chevalier won the Democratic nomination with Mamdani’s support and is favored to win a seat in the House of Representatives covering parts of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, including Marble Hill. She quickly visited the neighborhood last week after ICE agents shot and killed Dominican immigrant Oscar Belgal as he picked up his son from school.
Avila Chevalier said she was trying to calm the situation when an NYPD officer pushed her to the ground.
She recalled that experience in an interview with WNYC senior reporter Brigid Bergin on the short-lived political show “Who Runs This Place?” »
“They were escalating against the protesters,” Avila Chevalier said of the responding NYPD officers.
She then blamed Tisch, who said Belgal had already been arrested in New York.
“The fact that she, rather than condemning the actions of ICE or acknowledging that there needs to be a serious investigation into the behavior of the New York Police Department, then went on to defame the victim of the shooting,” Avila Chevalier said. “She’s the one who didn’t meet the moment. I think it’s important that we have meaningful accountability.”
An NYPD spokesperson noted that Tisch condemned ICE’s conduct following the shooting.
Mamdani faces growing criticism over his continued support for Tisch from the Democratic Socialists of America, which he has described as his “political home.” She was first appointed as a commissioner by Mamdani’s predecessor, former Mayor Eric Adams.
Mamdani said Monday he stood by the commissioner.
“The reason I made the decision to appoint Jessica Tisch as police commissioner was because of her record of rooting out corruption from the upper echelons of the NYPD while reducing crime in our city,” the mayor told reporters.
On Thursday, the front page of the New York Post showed Avila Chevalier holding a bullhorn and shouting at a photo of the mayor. Avila Chevalier said she laughed about the coverage with the mayor and said there was no disagreement between them.
“The mayor and I agree on most of these things, right? He’s already putting money toward accountability,” she said. “The mayor and I have a strong relationship.”
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