ICE Officer Shoots Oscar Belgal in New York City
A United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded 28-year-old Oscar Belgal in the neck in the Marble Hill neighborhood of New York City on Thursday afternoon, during a targeted enforcement operation with a 5-year-old boy in the car.
The Shooting in Marble Hill and City Police Response
The gunfire erupted around 4 p.m. on Thursday, when plainclothes federal officers approached Belgal as he pulled his car into a parking space. According to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, two federal agents approached the vehicle with guns drawn. When Belgal started to pull the car forward, at least one of the officers fired seven rounds. A bullet entered the front windshield and exited through a rear window, striking Belgal below his left ear.
A 5-year-old boy inside the vehicle was unharmed and placed with a relative, Tisch noted during a news conference near the site. City police officers were not involved in the federal operation, but they heard the shots, responded to the scene, and later used a police vehicle to transport the wounded man after bystander videos showed him sitting on the ground with his hands behind his back. Witnesses at a nearby restaurant reported hearing several gunshots and seeing a man on the ground surrounded by officers wearing face masks and Department of Homeland Security vests.
DHS Blames Sanctuary Policies for Dangerous Arrest Environment
The Department of Homeland Security defended the operation by identifying Belgal as a criminal illegal alien with a prior grand larceny conviction and a history of other arrests. The agency stated that New York police had arrested him in December 2023, but he was subsequently released. DHS complained that its officers are forced to make arrests in unpredictable and dangerous environments within communities when dangerous individuals are released due to local sanctuary policies.
Federal authorities removed Belgal from the hospital late Thursday night and took him away, despite efforts by local leaders to intervene. Multiple videos posted to Citizen showed federal agents in Enforcement and Removal Operations vests and Fugitive Operations vests securing the area immediately following the incident.
Elected Officials Condemn Federal Enforcement
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the shooting unconscionable and said there was no justification for the actions of the federal officers, whom he noted wore construction vests and masks that made it difficult to identify them as law enforcement. Mamdani stated that he spent two hours on Thursday night pressing President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to release the wounded man and stop immigration enforcement operations in the city, to no avail.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on X that she had also delivered a similar message to Trump and Mullin by phone, demanding a full and transparent accounting of the circumstances surrounding the incident from federal authorities. City Council Member Carmen De La Rosa joined other local politicians at a heated press conference near the site to condemn the shooting and demand an end to federal immigration enforcement in the city.
Protesters Clash with Police at Hospital Entry
Demonstrators gathered at the scene of the shooting chanting slogans such as ICE off our streets now!
before marching to the hospital where Belgal was receiving treatment. A sizable crowd blocked an intersection at the hospital entry. When police set up barricades to allow ambulances and other vehicles to pass, protesters shoved the barriers and hurled water bottles at officers, leading to further clashes and police intervention.
There is no justification for what we have seen today,
Mamdani said.