Statement on the Murder of Nurul Amin Shah Alam

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the family of Nurul Amin Shah Alam🚨

We are devastated by the tragic and negligent murder of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Rohingya refugee from Burma. Shah Alam was blind in one eye, had blurry vision in the other, and did not speak English. He escaped the genocide in Burma only to die at the hands of a neglectful collaborative effort of U.S. Border Patrol, Buffalo Police, and the Erie County Sheriff's Office in Buffalo. While only briefly, he was a part of Buffalo’s beautifully vibrant Burmese community, and his death was an act of heartless brutality. 

Leaving someone with a visual disability, who does not speak English, in a location that is not familiar to them, barefoot, and without notifying counsel or family in the dead of a Buffalo winter is deadly. Any investigation into Shah Alam’s death must be independent from the agencies involved. It must thoroughly examine not only the actions of the U.S. Border Patrol, which led to his death only five miles from his home, but also the failure of City and County officials to de-escalate the situation that led to his initial incarceration and any violation of Shah Alam’s civil rights. 

In February 2025, Shah Alam had gotten lost one day, mistakenly wandering onto a woman's yard with a curtain rod he used as a mobility assistance device, like a white cane for the blind, which has been mistakenly characterized as a “Walking Stick.” When the woman called Buffalo police, Shah Alam was not able to understand or respond to officers. 

Buffalo police are required, through federal laws like Title II the Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, New York State Human Rights Law, and local policies, to provide accommodations for people who are blind or do not speak English so that they can effectively communicate, which they failed to do. Officers subsequently beat, tasered, and charged Shah Alam with assault, trespassing, and possession of a weapon. 

Investigations need to also address the mishandling of Shah Alam’s missing person case by Buffalo police detective Richard Hy, the improper lack of consideration of the curtain rod as a mobility-assistance device by the Erie County District Attorney, as well as the improper notification of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office to the U.S. Border Patrol following his release. 

Ultimately, no investigation can undo the loss of life. While we demand that local officials address the policies and practices that led to Shah Alam’s murder, law enforcement agencies and officials be held to account, we also call for the passage of the New York York For All Act on a state level and the overdue abolition of ICE on the federal level. 

🚨If you are willing and able, please consider supporting 

the family of Nurul Amin Shah Alam🚨