ICE agents in Marble Hill shooting of Oscar Belgal ‘not aware’ 5-year-old child was in car: DHS

Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were “not aware” a 5-year-old child was in the back seat of a car when they opened fire and struck the child’s father in the neck during an enforcement operation in Marble Hill, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.

The boy’s father, the target of the operation, Oscar Belgal, “weaponized his vehicle” and accelerated at ICE officers who tried to take him into custody, DHS officials said.

“Because of this escalation, we had to use force,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said at a press conference Friday.

Thursday’s shooting sparked massive protests in both the Bronx and upper Manhattan later that night amid broad concern about ICE’s presence in the city and reputation for using heavy-handed tactics. Friday night saw the protests continue as thousands took to the streets, this time in Lower Manhattan.

Mayor Mamdani, who supports the abolition of ICE, late Thursday called the shooting an “outrage” and ICE a “rotten” agency that works to “sow chaos and terror.”

Belgal, an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic, has already been removed from New York as deportation proceedings begin, Mullin said, but attorneys for Belgal filed a habeas petition in Manhattan Federal Court, trying to get him released.

At a press conference Friday, Belgal’s attorney Harold Solis, said a bullet is still lodged inside him, though they don’t know exactly where.

“It’s a little unclear to us,” Solis said. “We just know it’s in his body, where it shouldn’t be. No one should be walking around with a bullet. … He’s still in pain.”

U.S. Judge Paul Oetken has prohibited the feds from removing Belgal from the country absent a ruling from him and said he must remain in New York or New Jersey. At a hearing Friday afternoon, the feds said Belgal was being held at MDC Brooklyn amid a question about whether the case should be heard in New Jersey, where Belgal was taken after the shooting.

In the filing, his lawyers from Make the Road New York and Bronx Defenders said Belgal became “the latest person swept into an increasingly violent immigration enforcement dragnet” when he was shot and arrested by agents “without a valid warrant and without any consideration of his individual circumstances.”

DHS officials said Belgal had been the subject of an ongoing investigation due to his association with the Trinitarios street gang, which was behind the shooting of a Customs and Border Protection agent two years ago, according to DHS Associate Director Marcos Charles, who also spoke at the press conference.

During the enforcement operation, ICE officers attempted to block in Belgal with their vehicles, but officials claim that instead of surrendering, Belgal accelerated toward the officers in his silver Honda Accord, ramming two of the vehicles.

“Believing that their life and the lives of their partners were in danger, they used their training and fired weapons,” Charles said.

“We weren’t aware the child was in the car,” Mullin added. “But do you know who was aware? Oscar. Oscar knew he had a child in his car.”

“The public outcry should be towards this criminal, this thug, this gangbanger, this possible murderer. The outrage should be with him for endangering the 5-year-old,” he added. The NYPD does not have Belgal listed as a Trinitarios gang member in its database, department officials said.

Thousands of people gathered in Lower Manhattan Friday evening to protest ICE in the wake of Belgal’s shooting.

“It’s just inhumane what ICE has been doing. It’s over the top, insane,” said Mike Faccioli, an IT worker from Brooklyn. “I don’t know why anyone would come to this country. Even people with tourist visas should be afraid. Even American citizens have been misidentified. Nobody is safe.”

The demonstrators chanted “Get up, get down, New York is an immigrant town!” and “F–k ICE!” as they marched from Foley Square to the U.S. Immigration Court in Hudson Square.
 
“I’m a child of immigrants,” said Reign Nunez, 25, a writer from Brooklyn. “My dad is from Trinidad, and my mom is from Belize. My family came here for a better life. But we get this. This march is about showing people have the power. We have to show them they can’t do this. We have to show them that we have the power.”

Police said there were no arrests at the protest.

ICE agents have often been criticized for their heavy-handed tactics when they arrest undocumented immigrants, seen by many as overly aggressive and unnecessarily violent. There have also been several high-profile incidents where agents shot, wounded or killed protesters, such as in Minneapolis in January when ICE agents fatally shot Renee Good.

The New York Legal Aid Society, which has represented Belgal, called for a “full and transparent investigation.”

“The shooting of Oscar Belgal by ICE in New York City is an urgent call to rein in ICE’s use of force and hold federal immigration agents accountable,” the society’s statement said. “Mr. Belgal’s five-year-old child was in the vehicle when ICE fired on it, raising grave concerns about the reckless endangerment of children and families during immigration enforcement operations.”

“Our communities should not have to live in fear of federal agents who act with impunity,” the Society said. “Since the start of the second Trump Administration, federal immigration agents have shot at least 21 people, underscoring the alarming toll of increasingly aggressive enforcement tactics.”

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said she’ll be conducting an investigation into the incident, saying in a statement, “My Office is working to establish facts and determine the appropriate course of action. We will continue to conduct a thorough investigation where our process is guided by the evidence and the law.”

The Manhattan and Bronx district attorneys both have jurisdiction over Marble Hill, though, according to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, the Bronx DA will take the lead on the investigation, The New York Times reported.

Robbery, drug sales

Belgal had been arrested twice in New York for robbery and drug sales, according to DHS and the NYPD. He ultimately pleaded guilty to grand larceny on the robbery charge and was sentenced to five years on probation in April. The drug sales charges were still pending in court.

ICE claimed they filed a detainer order on Belgal after his 2025 robbery conviction, asking the NYPD to hold him for an additional 48 hours so their agents could pick him up.

“We had a detainer on him. He was on probation. (City officials) knew he was illegal, and they chose to release him back into the streets and into the community,” Mullin said.

Mullin said that ICE leveled 14,766 detainers for the state of New York, representing 47,750 felony charges.

“That means individuals that are locked up that have extensive criminal backgrounds that the state of New York has in custody,” Mullin said. “We’ve asked for 14,766 detainers to be honored because these are illegals that should never be released back on the streets.”

“Silence, absolute silence, is what we’ve got from New York,” he said.

Under New York’s Sanctuary City Law, the NYPD is barred from assisting federal ICE detainment operations unless there is a warrant from a federal or state judge and the target has been convicted of one of 177 violent or serious crimes under city law.  Belgal does not appear to have met that criteria.

ICE agents tried to apprehend Belgal in September, but he got away from them.

Mullin devoted a significant portion of the press conference to criticizing Mamdani, who called for the dismantling of ICE following the shooting. “His words are dangerous, and incite hostility,” Mullin said.

“If sanctuary politicians refuse to take care of their own streets, President Trump has made it very clear we will,” he added.

Belgal was shot in the neck and treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Allen before being taken to a “detention facility outside of New York State,” Mullin said

The NYPD arrived at the scene after the shooting, when Belgal was already handcuffed and sitting on the ground, and assisted in taking him to the hospital. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch released the NYPD body camera footage from the incident on Friday.

His son was given to an aunt who lived on the block. He was not harmed, but his mother took him to a hospital for evaluation, his aunt said.

Five people were arrested on Thursday night as about 200 outraged New Yorkers gathered for an impromptu protest at the scene of the incident, an NYPD spokesperson said. They were charged with various misdemeanors including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, harassment and obstructing governmental administration, authorities said.

With Molly Crane Newman