OMM Redaksiyası
US immigration officials have defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who shot and wounded a man in New York while his five-year-old son was in the car, according to the BBC.
Markwayne Mullin, the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said agents fired while trying to arrest Oscar Belgal, whom officials described as having a criminal history. “We weren’t aware the child was in the car,” Mullin said at a news conference on Friday, arguing that Belgal had put his son in danger. Belgal is being held at a detention facility.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the incident “unconscionable and incredibly serious”. The shooting took place in the residential neighbourhood of Marble Hill.
Officials say Belgal accelerated toward officers
Marcos Charles, a senior ICE official who also spoke at Friday’s news conference, said agents used their vehicles to try to stop Belgal’s car. He said Belgal refused orders to get out, accelerated and hit two ICE vehicles.
Charles said Belgal then “weaponised his vehicle” and accelerated toward other officers. He said the agents, believing their lives and those of colleagues and members of the public were at risk, fired their weapons. Authorities are investigating how many officers fired.
Charles said Belgal was hit in the neck, superficially, by a bullet or bullet fragment.
Mamdani said ICE agents had surrounded Belgal’s car before opening fire. He said the agents wore construction vests and masks that concealed their faces, making it impossible to identify them as ICE officers, and added that the child was unharmed.
Mullin said the officers had identified themselves and were wearing body cameras, which were switched on during the incident. Footage of the shooting, including body-camera video, has not been made public. Unverified videos shared on social media appear consistent with Mamdani’s account, the BBC reported.
Footage released by the New York Police Department (NYPD) on Friday shows officers arriving after Belgal had been shot and trying to help him. One ICE officer appears to be wearing a bright construction vest and carrying a large firearm. NYPD officers called an ambulance and put Belgal in a police car to take him to hospital, where they later carried him inside.
DHS cites Belgal’s criminal history
Mamdani said he had spoken with US President Donald Trump and Mullin for two hours on Thursday but was unable to secure Belgal’s release. He said he would ask Trump to end ICE enforcement actions in New York. Mullin said enforcement would not be paused. Trump has not commented publicly on the shooting.
DHS said Belgal, 28, is from the Dominican Republic and has a prior conviction for grand larceny, as well as previous arrests for assault, robbery and possession of drugs and weapons. The department said New York police arrested him in December 2023 and released him a few days later.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said a case against Belgal over the alleged criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2025 remained pending. DHS also alleged that he was associated with the Trinitarios, which the US Justice Department describes as a transnational criminal group.
Mullin said DHS believed Belgal had direct or indirect knowledge of a shooting involving a US Customs and Border Protection officer, and that this was why he became a target.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also called for a swift explanation. She said she had spoken with Mullin and Trump, and described the incident as part of what she called a pattern of violence by a “rogue federal agency” and “untrained agents”.
Several high-profile shootings involving ICE officers have taken place this year, including one in Minneapolis in January that killed Renee Good.
