Here's a story I've been following for a while that I'm not so sure about. As I reported back in February, Buffalo Police had opened a homicide investigation after Border Patrol agents abandoned a vision-impaired refugee five miles from his home. He was found dead on the roadside a few days later. I still don't see how that could be considered homicide.
Our government dropped a blind man on the side of the road, miles from home. Those agents may not have pulled a trigger, but they might as well have. https://t.co/tT8uTdnGby
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) February 26, 2026
The thing is, they didn't drop him off on the side of the road. They dropped him off at a donut shop. The Department of Homeland Security responded to CNN's report with the following:
On February 19, 2026, Buffalo Police Department alerted Border Patrol about a non-citizen in their custody.
Our agents confirmed that Mr. Shah Alam entered the United States as a refugee on December 24, 2024, and was not amenable to removal.
Border Patrol agents offered him a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address, rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station.
He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance.
Today, I learned from NBC News that the medical examiner has declared Shah Alam's death a homicide.
he death of a refugee found after being released by Border Patrol is determined to be homicide. https://t.co/mX4G1QbDpy
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 1, 2026
NBC News reports:
The death of a nearly blind refugee who didn’t speak English and was found dead in February in New York state days after Customs and Border Protection officers left him outside a coffee shop was a homicide, a state medical examiner’s office said Wednesday.
Nurul Amin Shah Alam’s manner of death was determined to be a homicide with cause of death being “complications of a perforated ulcer precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Poloncarz said the cause of death “refers to the disease or injury that initiates the lethal sequence of events.”
Poloncarz said his office was barred by state law from publicly releasing the official autopsy and report on the death. He said he wished he could release it.
Now this is where I don't get it. He died days later of a perforated ulcer "precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration." To me, that brings back shades of all of the people who insisted that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was ruled by the medical examiner to have died of natural causes on January 7, had a stroke only because of the stress and violence he faced on January 6. They're so desperate to claim that a police officer died from the storming of the Capitol.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council and therefore an unreliable narrator, posted this:
NEW: The Buffalo Medical Examiner rules that the death of a legally blind elderly Burmese refugee dropped off by Border Patrol at a closed shop late at night in winter was a homicide.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) April 1, 2026
He died of a burst ulcer caused by severe stress brought on by dehydration and hypothermia. https://t.co/96Pv6S93bj pic.twitter.com/TJ568A7xEW
DHS responded to NBC News' story, and it sounded like they were losing patience:
This death had NOTHING to do with Border Patrol. Mr. Shah Alam passed almost A WEEK AFTER he was released by Border Patrol — he also had a serial violent criminal rap sheet.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) April 2, 2026
Mr. Shah Alam’s criminal history included charges for assaulting a first responder with intent to cause… https://t.co/Ch45wMlQAA
The post continues:
… injury, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing with a weapon, resisting arrest, criminal trespass, and obstructing governmental administration.
DHS is getting bodied in the replies by people who don't trust them and don't see how Shah Alam's rap sheet has any relevance. But they're also getting a lot of support in the replies to NBC News:
His death has nothing to do with Border Patrol, as you know.
— WA girl 4 Trump (@jess7719) April 2, 2026
Your dishonest framing of the headline is disgusting.
A week after Border Patrol released him.
— BLOCL 🇺🇸 (@bloc1264) April 2, 2026
Border Patrol had nothing to do with his murder.
Sounds like natural causes to me
— Take Back The Rainbow 🌈 ✝️🙏 (@Rainbow32094373) April 2, 2026
What a misleading headline.
— Geralt Of Rivia (@geralt_of_rivi) April 1, 2026
I do have questions. Why didn't Border Patrol drive him to his residence if it was just five miles away? DHS says he chose to accept a courtesy ride to a coffee shop, "determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address." Some people are saying the shop was closed. From all of the news reports and posts I've read, I'm still unsure if it was open or closed. I also don't know what the weather conditions were like. Initial reports heavily implied he died of hypothermia while walking home, but now we find it was a burst ulcer "exacerbated by hypothermia."
Again, this was days after they dropped him off. Are liberals trying to pull another Sicknick here? Are they going to try to make the Border Patrol officers who gave him a ride the next Derek Chauvin?
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