BS BULLETIN:
-
ICE shot and wounded a Dominican migrant during an attempted arrest in New York City, with a 5-year-old child inside his vehicle.
-
The man has a grand larceny conviction, multiple prior arrests and alleged ties to the Trinitarios gang.
-
Mayor Zohran Mamdani demanded his release during calls with President Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The administration refused.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani spent two hours on the phone with President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin Thursday night, unsuccessfully trying to secure the release of a Dominican migrant shot during an ICE operation.
The man, identified by police as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, had a criminal history that included a grand larceny conviction, prior arrests involving assault, robbery, drugs and weapons, and alleged ties to the Trinitarios gang.
The shooting occurred around 4 p.m. Thursday in Manhattan’s Marble Hill neighborhood, near the Bronx.
Surveillance footage showed plainclothes federal officers approaching Belgal’s vehicle with weapons drawn. When the vehicle began moving forward, at least one officer fired seven rounds, striking Belgal in the neck. The shooting itself was not captured by the surveillance camera.
A 5-year-old boy, believed to be Belgal’s son, was inside the vehicle but escaped injury. Belgal survived.
Mamdani responded by demanding that ICE leave New York City.
“I am angry tonight. Because today ICE shot a New Yorker,” the mayor posted on X, adding that ICE makes the city less safe.
His subsequent negotiations with Trump and Mullin failed. Federal agents removed Belgal from the hospital and took him into custody.
Governor Kathy Hochul joined the criticism, describing ICE as a “rogue federal agency” and demanding answers about the shooting.
The Department of Homeland Security pointed to New York’s sanctuary policies, saying Belgal had been released following a December 2023 arrest and arguing that those policies force federal officers to conduct dangerous street arrests.
That explanation did not establish why the officer fired. The shooting remains under investigation.
Online reaction quickly turned to Mamdani’s description of Belgal as a New Yorker and his decision to personally intervene on the migrant’s behalf.
“Selective outrage,” wrote X user Ewan McGrath, criticizing the mayor’s defense of a man with a criminal record.
The controversy leaves two questions hanging over New York City: whether the federal officer was justified in opening fire, and why a migrant with a prior criminal conviction remained in the community.
MY QUICK TAKE
There’s nothing wrong with demanding an investigation when an officer fires seven rounds near a child. But Mamdani went further, personally lobbying the president to release a man with a grand larceny conviction before the investigation was complete. New York’s sanctuary policies deserve scrutiny, too. Accountability shouldn’t stop at the ICE officer’s badge.
