British pop star Harry Styles used part of his Saturday night concert at Madison Square Garden to pay tribute to Oscar Belgal, the illegal immigrant and convicted felon who was shot by ICE agents in New York City last week.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Belgal had previously been convicted of grand larceny and had “multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, possession of drugs, and weapons possession.” He was shot by agents while trying to flee, with his 5-year-old son in the backseat of his car.
The incident was quickly denounced by several left-wing politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, who said it proved ICE was “rotten to the core.”
Styles appeared to share that view during his on-stage tribute.
“I just want us to take a moment to think about Oscar Belgal tonight,” Styles told the crowd. “I want us to just think and remember to just look after each other.”
The remark drew a decent cheer from the audience.
Styles, wearing a pair of rather short shorts on stage, then continued his lecture.
“It is up to us to make these cities that we live in places we want to see, it is up to us make the world a place we want to see and give to our children, so please continue looking after each other,” he said. “And remember, your friends, the people you love, the people who don’t look like you, and aren’t born where you are from — they deserve respect and love and dignity and justice.”
The Madison Square Garden crowd roared with approval, and Styles went back to playing music.
But the singer’s message did not sit well with everyone. A number of right-wing commentators and MAGA accounts on X blasted the pop star.
Fox News and Outkick host Tomi Lahren posted a video in which she scoffed at Styles for showing love to an “illegal alien thug” while failing to salute New York City police officers who were recently attacked by suspected Dominican gang members like Belgal.
“Excuse me, this person was in the country illegally,” Lahren said. “[He] fled law enforcement at least one time, and has a rap sheet a mile long. That person does not belong in our ‘community,’ certainly doesn’t make our ‘community’ safer.”
Lahren then urged Styles to “please put on some pants.”
Plenty of others echoed her criticism.
The “American AF” account on X posted a clip of Styles’ speech and took aim at the singer’s own living situation.
“Harry Styles doesn’t even live here. His main home is in Hampstead, one of the richest neighborhoods in London, where he’s spent around £18 MILLION buying up four houses on the same street to build a private compound with a gatehouse. His first house there sits behind high walls and gates,” the account wrote.
The post continued: “The neighborhood is 78% white, and only 2% of residents are Black.. Nothing says ‘open borders’ like buying out the whole block so nobody can get near you.”
Similar reactions piled up across X.
Styles was born in the United Kingdom, where he still has a home. He also owns an apartment in Manhattan, which he bought for $8.7 million in 2017.
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