Last Tuesday, a 56-year-old Rohingya refugee from Burma, who was blind, in poor health, and did not speak English, was found dead in Buffalo, N.Y., five days after Border Patrol agents dropped him off on a street corner without notifying his family or making sure he could take care of himself.
According to a police report, Nurul Amin Shah Alam’s body was found on Perry Street, near KeyBank Center, home to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. His death was determined by the Erie County Medical Examiner to be “health-related in nature,” but an official cause of death has not yet been determined.
What we do know, however, is that just over a year before his death, Shah Alam had an encounter with Buffalo police officers, which led to him being in Border Patrol custody until a plea deal earlier this month led to his release.
From the Investigative Post:
On the morning of Saturday, February 15, 2025, Shah Alam left his West Side home for a walk, according to his attorney and a Buffalo police report, Shah Alam, his wife and two sons had arrived in Buffalo as refugees just weeks prior in December 2024 and were in the country legally. Cooped up due to the cold, his attorney said, Shah Alam set out for a stroll when a sunny day arrived.
In need of a walking stick — and with $20 in hand — Shah Alam went to a store near his home and purchased a curtain rod, his attorney, Benjamin Macaluso of the Legal Aid Bureau, told Investigative Post.
When the weather turned bad, Shah Alam headed for home but got lost, Macaluso said. Shortly before 10:30 a.m. he wandered into the backyard of Tracy Chicone on the 500 block of Tonawanda Street in the Riverside neighborhood.
Chicone reported to Buffalo police that Shah Alam had opened her back gate, let her dog out and damaged her shed door with his curtain rod walking stick. Upon arrival, police alleged Shah Alam was “swinging them in a menacing manner.” Officer Christopher Mordino later wrote he believed Shah Alam intended to hurt police with his curtain rod.
Macaluso said that wasn’t true, and that his client was merely startled by the dog and the commotion.
From there, it was a scene that is all too familiar when it comes to cops dealing with Black people, especially those suffering from disabilities. An officer is heard shouting, “Put it down! You’re going to get Tased! Put it in the snow,” to which Shah Alam says, “Okay,” but is still holding the rod, likely because he still needed it to stand.
Then officers pointed their Tasers at Shah Alam as he moved closer to them, and then they tased him. Shah Alam is seen raising one rod as if to defend himself, and then officers tackled and attempted to handcuff him.
“Get on the f*cking ground,” one of the officers is heard shouting repeatedly.
While he was on the ground, an officer is heard calling Shah Alam a “f*cking asshole” before punching him in the head several times. At one point, Shah Alam appears to say those fateful words said by many Black men who ended up dead shortly afterwards: “I can’t breathe.” An officer responds, “Take a breath, you’re okay.”
Shah Alam was charged with assault, trespass, and possession of a weapon — referring to the curtain rod he was using to walk— and was booked into the Erie County Holding Center before he was eventually taken into federal custody. As part of the plea deal, Shah Alam pleaded guilty to two charges: trespassing and misdemeanor possession of a weapon, which, again, referred to the curtain rod he was using to walk. According to his immigration attorney, his plea to the charges “didn’t make him removable from the United States.”
“When he went over to Border Patrol, they can look and say, ‘Oh, wait, he’s not removable.’ But instead of saying anything to anybody about his impending release … they didn’t say anything,” attorney Siana McLean said.
More from the Post:
What happened after Shah Alam was in Border Patrol’s custody is not entirely clear.
Shah Alam’s attorneys said they believed it was ICE that had lodged a detainer against him — meaning that agency would take custody and take him to the federal detention center in Batavia, where his lawyers expected to pick him up last Friday. A police report also states it was ICE that lodged the detainer. Additional police records indicate Border Patrol lodged the detainer.
Christopher Horvatits, a spokesperson for the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, said it was Border Patrol that requested custody of Shah Alam upon his release from jail. Horvatits said deputies called Border Patrol agents who picked Shah Alam up upon his release from the Holding Center.
That happened just after 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Shah, the family friend, said Shah Alam’s family waited for hours that day, hoping to pick him up from the holding center.
McLean said the Sheriff’s Office should not have called Border Patrol.
“I think that there was a serious error here in sending him to Border Patrol,” she said. “My issue is: Was it supposed to be Border Patrol in the first place?”
A Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson said in a statement that after agents determined that Shah Alam “was not amenable to removal,” they “offered him a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept, to a coffee shop … rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station.” The spokesperson said the coffee shop, Tim Hortons, on the 2200 block of Niagara Street, was “determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address.” At the time Shah Alam was dropped off there, the shop was reportedly closed, except for the drive-thru windows.
It appears that Nurul Amin Shah Alam is dead because local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, and several others were involved in his violent arrest, detainment, and general treatment showed an utter lack of concern for his health, well-being, and, ultimately, his life. He and his family deserve justice that they will likely never receive.
Whatever happened to basic, bare-minimum humanity?
SEE ALSO:
Lawyers For Chicago Woman Shot By Border Patrol Threaten Civil Rights Lawsuit
Judge Rips Border Patrol Commander For Lying About Chicago
Post a Comment
0 Comments