WASHINGTON — Federal immigration officers opened fire on a Dominican man in New York because he drove his car into officers' vehicles and they believed their lives were in danger, a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said Friday.
The 28-year-old man, whom New York City police identified as Oscar Belgal, was shot “superficially” in the neck as ICE officers attempted to arrest him, Marcos Charles said.
Officers used their vehicles to block the man as he attempted to drive away, but he accelerated toward them, Charles said during a news conference with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in Washington. The Department of Homeland Security said the news conference was about the “dangerous consequences of sanctuary city policies.”
“Our officers, using their training and believing that their life and the life of the partners and the general public were in danger, used their training and fired weapons,” Charles said.
Belgal had a 5-year-old boy in the car with him when the shooting happened, officials said.
Mullin said ICE agents didn’t know the child was in the car, but that Belgal “was aware” and chose to knowingly put the boy at risk by trying to evade officers.
ICE had issued a detainer on Belgal, who runs with a gang known for thefts using weapons and mopeds, Charles said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, said late Thursday that they had pressed Mullin and Republican President Donald Trump to release Belgal, to no avail. They also urged the administration to immediately release body camera footage of the shooting and to halt immigration enforcement operations in the city.
Mullin said Belgal is being held in a facility outside New York City but declined to provide the location. He confirmed ICE officers were wearing body cameras that were activated, but didn’t say when any footage would be released.
Protesters and local officials had decried the shooting as an example of the dangers of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
“There is no justification for what we have seen today,” Mamdani said late Thursday at the scene of the shooting.
Federal officers who surrounded the vehicle wore construction vests and masks, making it difficult to identify them as immigration officers, he said.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Belgal was pulling into a parking space when a federal officer in plainclothes approached with gun drawn, followed by another federal officer who also wasn’t in uniform. Belgal started to pull the car forward, and at least one of the officers fired seven rounds, hitting the man below his left ear.
Much of Mullin’s remarks Friday were reserved for excoriating Mamdani and his immigration policy.
“Sanctuary politicians, they create an environment for criminal activity to thrive, not for the American citizens to be safe,” he said.
Mullin said ICE has asked local officials in New York to hold onto more than 14,000 people for federal officers to collect and place in immigration detention.
“Silence. Absolute silence is what we have gotten back,” he said. “Why would they release these individuals back onto the streets?”
“We’re enforcing our nation’s laws. We’re not picking and choosing,” Mullin continued. “Why is that controversial? We should all want law and order on our streets.”
Mullin also criticized the attention surrounding the case.
“This was a thug. The absolute worst of the worst,” he complained. “We’re giving so much attention to this thug.”
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Marcelo reported from New York.
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