Nurul Amin Shah Alam's Death Was a Homicide

[groundloop]

Source: Mother Jones

On Wednesday, the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office announced that it ruled the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Blind Rohingya refugee who was left on the freezing streets of Buffalo by Border Patrol officers, a homicide. Neither Shah Alam’s family, who had waited to meet him outside the facility where he was being held, nor his lawyers, who had been attempting to contact him, were notified of his location. Shah Alam spoke very little English.

The Associated Press reported that the medical examiner’s office did not “reach any conclusions about responsibility” for the homicide and that Shah Alam’s death was “caused by complications of a perforated duodenal ulcer, precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration. “

“The designation of homicide does not imply intent to cause harm or death,” Erie County official Mark Poloncarz said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Manner-of-death determinations are neutral, non-legal, and exist for vital statistical purposes only. They do not indicate criminality, which is the purview of the justice system.”

Shah Alam was initially arrested after an incident where he became lost attempting to return home; the Buffalo Police Department approached him as a threat, ostensibly for holding a curtain rod he used as a walking stick. Instead of trying to assist him, officers tased and arrested him. He was incarcerated for a year before his release, when Border Patrol in effect dumped him.

Read more: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/cbp-shah-alam-border-patrol-buffalo-death-letitia-james/

[TexasBushwhacker]

1. Leaving him outside in Buffalo in February?

I wouldn't treat a dog like that.

[NH Ethylene]

2. That is so sad.

A family waiting to bring him home and he gets dumped like a piece of garbage.

[malaise]

3. K & R for. Visibility

Evil

[orangecrush]

4. Kick

[PatrickforB]

5. LWOP for the ICE thugs who murdered this man. n/t

[BurnDoubt]

6. Sounds like Negligent Homicide.

A sad ending for a man subjected to the worst of our Justice System for more than a year.
This is an indictment of our entire Government. And those who made themselves responsible for his care, against his will… for nothing.
Callousness is NOT an American Value.
Another way to go might have been to help him get home. But what’s the fun in that?
This is an argument for the use of Body-Cams to document the entire interaction, if for no other reason than Training, AND ACTUALLY KNOWING WHAT TRANSPIRED.

[NNadir]

7. Of course it was.

[Joinfortmill]

8. There will be a reckoning.

[Bayard]

9. I remember this story

He was blind and needed to walk with a cane. Cops thought his curtain rod was dangerous. Why they felt the need to hold him for a year, and then dump him out in Buffalo in the winter without notifying his family, is simply murder. I hope AG James charges them appropriately.

[Skittles]

10. courtesy of the "pro-life Christian" party

[pat_k]

11. There MUST be accountability for this criminally negligent homocide.

In New York State, the formal charge for criminally negligent homicide is a Class E felony. It is defined under New York Penal Law § 125.10.

Definition:
A person is guilty of criminally negligent homicide when, with criminal negligence, they cause the death of another person.

"Criminal Negligence" Defined:
According to NY Penal Law § 15.05(4), this occurs when a person fails to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that death will occur. The risk must be of such a nature that the failure to perceive it constitutes a "gross deviation" from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe.

------------------------------
His family was waiting to meet him and his attorney was trying to contact him. Border Patrol failed to respond or facilitate contact with his attorney. Government officials have a fucking duty of care. They were derelict in that duty.

Compounding that dereliction, they dropped him off alone in a parking lot.

I am willing to bet they left him without a cent.

I am also willing to bet that he was ALREADY dehydrated and disoriented due to negligent treatment at the holding facility.

Yes, the precise circumstances have yet to be detailed, but I cannot imagine any set of circumstances under which a reasonable person would fail to foresee that leaving a man who could not communicate and who was nearly blind at a random location in freezing temperatures would put him at serious risk of harm or death.