"It Doesn't Even Matter": A Candidate's Rejection of the Framing

There are moments in political discourse when a phrase lingers not because of its logic but because of what it reveals. "It doesn't even matter." The words were spoken by Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate for New York's 13th Congressional District, during an interview with streamer Hasan Piker . She was responding to a question about the criminal record of Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican national who was shot and wounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Bronx last week . Her point was not that the record was insignificant in a legal sense, but that it was irrelevant to the question of whether the shooting was justified.

The shooting has become a flashpoint. Belgal was picking up his five-year-old son from school when plainclothes ICE agents approached his SUV. He attempted to drive away, and an agent fired into the vehicle, striking him in the neck . His son was unharmed. ICE says agents believed their lives were in danger after Belgal refused lawful orders to exit the vehicle . The incident sparked protests in the Bronx and renewed demands from progressive officials to abolish the agency .

The criminal record in question is substantial. Authorities say Belgal entered the United States illegally in 2022 and has since compiled convictions and pending charges, including a 2023 armed robbery conviction and a 2025 arrest for allegedly selling fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin . Former neighbors told the New York Post he had terrorized them with a machete . Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, in a press conference after the shooting, detailed this history .

Chevalier's response was to reject the framing entirely. "Rather than condemn ICE, rather than condemn the shooting or the events that are taking place, she started to villainize Oscar," Chevalier said of Tisch . She described Belgal's decision to flee as an act of parental protection: "Put yourself in Oscar's shoes. You have your child in the back seat, you're picking him up from school, and all of a sudden you see masked men coming towards your car, banging on it, pulling out guns" . She demanded his release and called for Tisch's resignation .

The disagreement is not merely about facts. It is about which facts are relevant. For Chevalier, the criminal record is a distraction from what she sees as the core issue: the use of force by federal agents in a sanctuary city, against a man whose child was in the car. For Tisch and others, the record is context—an explanation, perhaps, for why ICE targeted Belgal in the first place, and a reminder that the encounter did not occur in a vacuum.

The debate reflects a broader tension in American politics over immigration enforcement and the limits of police power. It also reveals something about the current moment: the willingness of some progressive candidates to argue that the character of the individual is not the point, that the system itself is on trial. Whether that argument resonates with voters in New York's 13th District—a district that Chevalier is favored to win in November—remains to be seen .

For now, Belgal remains in federal custody, recovering from his wound. The investigation into the shooting continues. And Chevalier's words—"it doesn't even matter"—will be quoted, debated, and remembered, a small phrase that captured a larger argument about what matters and what does not.

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