Harry Styles pays tribute to Oscar Belgal after ICE shooting in New York
Harry Styles used his Madison Square Garden residency to honour Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old man shot by an ICE agent in New York while his five-year-old son sat in the back seat. Belgal survived and is now in detention, as the singer urged audiences to look after one another.
Harry Styles has paid public tribute to Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old man who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in New York earlier this month while his five-year-old son was sitting in the back seat of his car. Belgal survived the shooting, which took place on 8 October, and is now being held at a detention facility.
Speaking from the stage at Madison Square Garden, where he is midway through a 30-night residency, Styles asked the audience to pause and reflect on the incident. «I just want us to take a moment to think about Oscar Belgal tonight, and I want us to think and remember to just look after each other,» he said. The singer, who has made community and connection a recurring theme of his current tour, framed the moment as a broader call to responsibility.
«It is up to us to make these cities that we live in the places we want to see, and it’s up to us to make the world a place that we want to see and give to our children,» Styles continued. He added: «So, please, continue looking after each other. And remember: your friends, the people you love, the people who don’t look like you and aren’t born where you’re from, they deserve respect, and love, and dignity, and justice.»
The shooting has drawn attention to the actions of federal immigration agents and the circumstances surrounding Belgal’s arrest. The Department of Homeland Security has defended the officers involved, stating that they were attempting to arrest a man with an alleged criminal history and that they were aware his son was in the vehicle at the time. Belgal’s detention has continued since the incident, and no further details about his legal status or the outcome of any review have been made public.
Styles’s remarks came during a run of shows that has already included tributes to Dolly Parton and a light-hearted reference to Taylor Swift’s wedding, which was held at the same venue. The Madison Square Garden dates form part of his «Together, Together» tour, a schedule that has also taken him to London’s Wembley Stadium for a record-breaking 12 nights, as well as Amsterdam, São Paulo and Mexico City. The New York residency concludes with a «Harryween» show on 31 October, before further dates in Melbourne and Sydney in December.
The tour supports his fourth solo album, «Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally», released in March. Styles has also announced the final cities he will play in 2027, with support acts including Kylie Minogue and LCD Soundsystem. Those dates are being staged in collaboration with Green Nation, Live Nation’s global sustainability initiative, which aims to reduce emissions and encourage lower-impact travel for fans. The singer will continue his long-standing support for Choose Love for a tenth year, while US proceeds will go to HeadCount, an organisation that uses music to register voters and promote democratic participation.
For audiences in New York and beyond, the tribute has added a political and social dimension to a residency already defined by its emphasis on collective care. Styles’s words did not directly criticise the immigration authorities, but they placed the shooting within a wider argument about dignity and justice for people regardless of background or birthplace. The incident itself remains under scrutiny, with Belgal still in detention and questions about the use of force unresolved.
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