The Democratic Socialists of America are demanding that Mayor Zohran Mamdani fire police Commissioner Jessica Tisch following a controversial shooting by ICE agents in the Bronx last week. The escalating feud puts the mayor under pressure from the socialist organization that counts him as its most high-profile member.

In a scathing online statement, the DSA called for Mamdani to remove the city’s top police official and use his mayoral authority against ICE operations in New York City. The organization also demanded sweeping changes within the NYPD.

A statement by the National Political Committee, DSA's highest leadership body between conventions, demanding ICE out of NYC! https://t.co/g1qrw11T2u

— DSA (@DemSocialists) October 11, 2026

“We demand that Mayor Zohran Mamdani fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and use every power available to him to drive ICE out of New York City,” it said.

The organization also demanded that the city abolish the police strategic response and community response teams. Those demands expanded the dispute beyond Tisch and placed two elite NYPD units squarely in the socialists’ sights.

We demand that Mayor Zohran Mamdani fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and use every power available to him to drive ICE out of New York City.

We further demand the mayor abolish the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG) and Community Response Team (CRT). https://t.co/foE9zyZcdW — DSA (@DemSocialists) October 11, 2026

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The DSA issued its statement after federal immigration agents surrounded suspected gangbanger Oscar Belgal in Marble Hill on Thursday. Agents fired multiple shots into Belgal’s car, wounding him in the neck while his son, age 5, sat in the back seat.

Tisch said during a press briefing hours later that the NYPD had not participated in the federal operation. She also reported that Belgal, described as a reputed member of the Trinitarios street gang, had a troubling criminal history involving robbery and drug distribution raps.

DSA Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier called for Tisch to resign one day after the shooting. Chevalier accused the commissioner of protecting a “militia” of armed ICE thugs.

During an interview with lefty streamer Hasan Piker, Chevalier dismissed Belgal’s rap sheet by saying it “doesn’t even matter.” She also accused the NYPD of villainizing the Dominican immigrant after the shooting.

DSA’s Darializa Avila Chevalier Says Convicted Felon’s Criminal History “Doesn't Even Matter,” Accuses Jessica Tisch of “Villainizing” Him, and Demands Her Resignation

This is a fascinating glimpse into DSA-style co-governance in action, revealing both the growing tensions over the Mamdani administration and the movement's commitment to abolitionism. Speaking with Hasan Piker today about the ICE shooting of Oscar Belgal, a Dominican national with a prior felony conviction and pending charges for allegedly selling fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine to an undercover detective, Darializa Avila Chevalier was unable to explain his criminal history when Hasan asked about it. Instead, she acknowledged reviewing NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s remarks against “our statement,” which her team had prepared, before declaring, “To me it doesn't even matter.” It was Hasan who later supplied the details, citing the New York Times on Belgal’s drug offenses and robbery. Avila Chevalier nevertheless accused Tisch of attempting to “villainize” Belgal, demanded her resignation, called for his release from federal custody, and advocated abolishing ICE and stripping its funding. Notably, Avila Chevalier had also taken to the streets to protest the shooting that same evening, confronting federal agents investigating the scene and later participating in demonstrations outside the hospital. She went so far as to portray Belgal’s flight from federal agents, with his five-year-old child in the back seat, as an entirely understandable act of parental protection, suggesting that any parent would have done the same. The interview concluded with her telling Hasan’s audience to “Fuck ICE and abolish it.” — Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) October 10, 2026

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Mamdani appeared Sunday on MS Now and was questioned about Avila Chevalier’s comments. He did not change course on his plans to keep Tisch in her position, despite promising a review of the police response to the shooting and the protests that followed.

“The NYPD was not at the scene when the incident took place when the incident took place, when ICE shot at Mr. Belgal and his 5-year-old son in the car.”

According to Mamdani, the NYPD received a 911 call, arrived at the location, and took Belgal to a local hospital. His account emphasized that city police arrived after the shooting rather than participating in the ICE operation.

“What I will be doing with the police commissioner is a review of that entire 24-hour period,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani also said the Strategic Response Group was not involved in either the shooting or the response. Even so, he said he still intends to disband the group, keeping one of the DSA’s major policing demands on his agenda.

The mayor had told the New York Times on Friday that “there are no plans” to change the NYPD’s leadership. That position directly conflicts with the DSA’s public demand that he remove Tisch.

“And I want to be very clear that our administration, alongside the commissioner, alongside the PD, will review all of the events of the last 24 hours, including ICE’s shooting, the Police Department’s response to that incident and the ensuing protest, the staging of ICE operations in privately owned parking lots, and every action the city can take to protect New Yorkers from ICE’s terror,” he told the Times.

For now, Mamdani remains committed to reviewing the shooting, the NYPD response and the protests without firing Tisch. His socialist allies, however, are publicly demanding that their most prominent member do exactly that.

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