Release the Video. Investigate the Shooting. Stop Picking Sides.

Release the Video. Investigate the Shooting. Stop Picking Sides.

There is something deeply troubling about the political reaction to the ICE shooting in Marble Hill, and it goes far beyond immigration policy.

An ICE agent fired seven rounds during an attempted arrest, striking 28-year-old Oscar Bergal in the neck while his 5-year-old son was inside the vehicle. DHS says Bergal refused commands, struck government vehicles and accelerated toward officers, placing them in fear for their lives. Publicly available video shows a chaotic encounter, but it does not clearly answer the most important question: what exactly was happening at the moment an officer decided deadly force was necessary? ICE has said its body-camera footage will be released, but has not said when.

That video needs to come out.

What troubles us almost as much as the delay is how quickly political leaders have chosen their conclusions. One side appears prepared to condemn the officers before the investigation is complete. The other appears prepared to defend them before the investigation is complete. Neither approach serves the public.

Immigration enforcement is controversial. That is irrelevant to determining whether these particular officers acted responsibly.

ICE has lawful duties to perform. Agents sometimes confront dangerous people in unpredictable situations. A moving vehicle can become a deadly weapon in seconds. If the evidence shows these officers reasonably believed they were about to be struck or killed, then that evidence should be presented and the officers should be judged accordingly.

But popular enforcement missions do not make officers infallible either. Police officers, federal agents and correctional officers are human beings. Human beings make mistakes. They panic. They misread situations. They sometimes overreact. And occasionally they use force that cannot be justified.

If that happened here, accountability should follow. Hold the responsible officers accountable, correct whatever failed, and let the agency move forward. Accountability for misconduct is not an attack on law enforcement. It is part of maintaining legitimate law enforcement.

The opposite rush to judgment is equally concerning. Some people appear ready to declare the shooting criminal simply because they oppose ICE, the Trump administration or immigration enforcement generally. That is not an investigation. That is politics wearing the costume of certainty.

We should be capable of something better than this.

Governor, mayor, secretary, president, protester or ICE supporter, nobody should be deciding what happened according to the party line. Leaders should be demanding the evidence, reviewing the evidence and following it wherever it goes.

A federal agent discharged a firearm seven times. A man was wounded. A 5-year-old child was sitting inside the vehicle. That deserves a legitimate investigation free from political theater.

And right now, the most important piece of evidence remains unavailable to the public.

Release the body-camera footage. Conduct the investigation. If the agents acted properly, say so and show us why. If they did not, hold them accountable. Then let the facts, not the politics, decide where the chips fall.