Darializa Avila Chevalier
Role at the time: Democratic nominee for U.S. House in New York's 13th district, who went to the scene, speaking to New York Magazine
Statement summary
Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for Congress in New York's 13th district, told New York Magazine that if the shooting followed a targeted arrest, the agents would have known who they were arresting, that he was a father, where he was going and who might be with him, and that he would be driving through a busy public space. She said this shows that "these people" are cruel and do not care about the impact on the community. New York Magazine reported she was answering DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin's claim that officers did not know a child was in the car.
“If this was a targeted arrest, then they would have known who they were arresting ... They would have known that he was a father; they would have known where he was going and who might be with him. They would have known that, at the time he was driving there, it would be a very public space. It would have been a time of people passing by who are coming from home and school. It just shows that these people are not only cruel, they're also idiots. They're idiots who do not care what the impact is on our community.”
New York Magazine Intelligencer interview of October 9, 2026 with the Democratic nominee for New York's 13th district, who went to the scene of the shooting.
Why we used this label
The reference point is whether the ICE officer was justified in shooting the man in the car. Avila Chevalier answers the claim that the officers did not know a child was in the car by saying a targeted arrest means they would have known he was a father and who might be with him, and says these people are cruel and do not care about the community, which rejects the shooting as unjustified, so we labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, because she disputes DHS's account of what the officers knew; she also states a verdict on the agents' conduct, so it loses.