DHS defends ICE shooting in NYC, says officers believed they were in danger

The shooting prompted protests in New York City as officials defended ICE and Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the incident. Save Share The United States Department of Homeland Security has defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE)shootingof a man in New York City while his child was present. Federal officials used the incident to criticise sanctuary-city policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. New York officials have condemned the shooting and have called for ICE to end its operations in the city. The shooting took place on Thursday afternoon when ICE officers attempted to arrest a man identified by New York City police as Oscar Belgal. Homeland Security officials gave their account of the incident on Friday during a news conference, saying that Belgal refused to exit his car when approached by officers and then accelerated, striking two ICE vehicles. They said officers then opened fire, grazing Belgal’s neck while his five-year-old child was in the back seat. According to Homeland Security officials, Belgal received first aid and was taken to hospital before being transferred to a secure detention facility outside New York state. They did not disclose where Belgal is being held. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that the agents did not know the child was inside the vehicle when they fired. ICE senior official Marcos Charles said agents had attempted to arrest Belgal as part of an investigation into suspected gang involvement in an earlier shooting of a US Customs and Border Protection officer. According to US officials, Belgal is an undocumented migrant from the Dominican Republic who had previously evaded arrest and received a five-year sentence for grand larceny in April 2025. “[Belgal] was a thug,” Mullin said at the Friday news conference. “The absolute worst of the worst.” Mullin confirmed that officers were wearing body cameras but the footage has not been made public. New York City police released bodycam footage on Friday of police officers on the scene who had responded to a 911 call about the incident. In other violent incidents involving federal immigration officers, video evidence has contradicted initial accounts from ICE and Homeland Security officials, including in Minneapolis, where footage of the fatal shootings ofAlex PrettiandRenee Goodchallenged federal officials’ descriptions of the encounters....