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Attorneys argue man shot by ICE in Marble Hill should be released
By
Ben Feuerherd
,
Ryan Kost
,
Samantha Max
and
Arya Sundaram
Published Oct 9, 2026
Modified Oct 9, 2026
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NYPD
By
Ben Feuerherd
,
Ryan Kost
,
Samantha Max
and
Arya Sundaram
Published Oct 9, 2026
Modified Oct 9, 2026
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Attorneys for the man shot in the neck by federal immigration agents during an arrest in Marble Hill Thursday night are demanding his release — joined by a chorus of similar demands from city leaders including Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
And Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark pledged her office would continue investigating Thursday’s shooting of 28-year-old Oscar Belgal — which federal officials alleged happened when Belgal “weaponized his vehicle” by accelerating his vehicle toward ICE vehicles and officers during an enforcement operation.
City Hall spokesperson Sam Raskin said the NYPD and mayor’s office would also review “all of the events of the last 24 hours, including ICE’s shooting; the police department’s response to that incident and the ensuing protest; the staging of ICE operations in privately owned parking lots; and every action the city can take to protect New Yorkers from ICE’s terror."
The incident marks a turning point for New York City, which had largely been spared the kind of violence that accompanied the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in cities like Minneapolis and Los Angeles. Belgal’s 5-year-old son was in the back seat at the time of the shooting, according to his lawyers, though DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the agents didn’t know the boy was there. The NYPD said the child was not hurt and is with a family member.
“Obviously he’s afraid,” Harold Solis with immigrant rights group Make the Road said at a press conference Friday after a habeas corpus hearing — a procedure to decide if someone’s detention is lawful — for Belgal. “He’s deeply concerned about his 5-year-old son. The first thing he asked me was whether his son was OK.”
Belgal’s family stood by but did not speak with the media.
The federal government said in court Friday Belgal was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Belgal's attorney, Paige Austin, said she spoke briefly with her client on the phone and that he is in pain and still has a bullet in his body.
The hearing was otherwise procedural. Because it’s unknown where Belgal was at the time his petition was filed, the main question is which court has jurisdiction over the case. His attorneys said they plan to update the petition soon and will update the judge early next week on whether they're going to request the case stay in the Southern District of New York.
Government attorneys said they were still waiting on more information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement about why Belgal was detained. Earlier in the day, DHS officials said he’d been moved out of state after his arrest, and Belgal's attorneys said they didn’t know where he was at the time.
Leading up to the hearing, a U.S. District Court judge ordered that Belgal not be deported and barred the government from transferring him except to a facility in New Jersey or the two federal court districts covering New York City and its surrounding counties.
New Yorkers attended a march in Manhattan to demand ICE leave the city on Oct. 9, 2026.
Giulia Heyward / Gothamist
The incident presents a major test for Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Even as he called for ICE to be abolished, his own police department clashed with protesters who had gathered near the scene Thursday night. Protesters called the mayor complicit, and, on Friday, Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Mamdani-backed Democratic nominee for the congressional seat that includes Marble Hill, called on Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to step down.
New Yorkers who were outraged by the incident took part in a peaceful demonstration in lower Manhattan on Friday.
Dozens of people in the crowd at Foley Square held up signs and chanted as immigration activists took to the stage to publicly denounce the Thursday shooting.
"We want ICE off our streets. We want justice, we want peace," the demonstrators chanted as they walked down Sixth Avenue.
Speaking at ICE headquarters in Washington on Friday morning, Mullin and other administration officials said that agents had no choice but to open fire. They laid the blame on Belgal and on New York City’s sanctuary policies.
Marcos Charles, a top ICE official, said the agents had used their vehicles to block Belgal’s vehicle. He added that Belgal refused orders to exit his vehicle, and then accelerated, smashing into two ICE vehicles before proceeding to accelerate toward other officers.
A video released by the NYPD Friday afternoon shows Belgal’s vehicle parked along a curb. One man in plainclothes and a red cap approaches the car with a handgun drawn as the vehicle reverses. Another man in plainclothes with a black cap enters the frame closer to the front corner of the vehicle, and also draws his gun as the vehicle moves forward. While the vehicle is transitioning from moving backward to forward, the man with the red cap appears to punch and smash the driver’s side window, before it drives out of the frame.
Another video, from a different angle, shows bystanders in the area before many duck to the ground or flee. Several men, some wielding guns, then run into view and off-screen on the street. Later, a man with a neon yellow vest and a long gun runs onto the scene, seemingly the same man pictured shortly after the scene in cellphone photo and video previously provided to Gothamist by neighbors.
Tisch said at a press conference Thursday night that at least one ICE agent fired several rounds at Belgal. Police recovered seven shell casings at the scene. Tisch added that the NYPD was not involved with the immigration operation that led to the shooting, and no city officers were at the scene when ICE agents opened fire.
The NYPD released body camera footage of officers responding to the shooting and rushing Belgal to the hospital. The footage begins with two unidentified officers arriving at the scene, where Belgal is seen sitting on the street in handcuffs, surrounded by ICE agents and bleeding from his neck.
One of the officers can be heard saying “he’s got a gun” before getting out of their NYPD vehicle. The NYPD officer did not specify whom he was referring to, but a federal immigration agent holding a rifle is visible in the video. Belgal is not seen with a weapon in the video, and DHS did not describe him as armed in its account of the encounter.
The agents at the scene appear to be in plainclothes, and their vehicles as seen in that video do not appear to carry obvious law enforcement markings.
The NYPD officers eventually decide to bring Belgal to a nearby hospital in their police vehicle rather than wait any longer for an ambulance to arrive. Multiple officers then pick up Belgal, load him into the back of their black SUV and drive him to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital.
ICE agents have been criticized in the past for shooting at moving vehicles, including in the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Policing experts generally suggest officers refrain from shooting at moving vehicles, and most major police departments, including the NYPD, ban the practice. The U.S. Department of Justice has also warned against the practice.
Mullin said immigration authorities targeted Belgal because he is an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic, and because officers believed he had “direct or indirect” knowledge of a recent shooting of a federal Customs and Border Protection officer. Mullin also claimed Belgal is associated with a gang.
Belgal has one prior criminal conviction in New York City, for fourth-degree grand larceny, Tisch said Thursday night. He was sentenced to five years’ probation.
Mamdani and other city leaders condemned the ICE action and renewed calls for the federal government to end immigration enforcement efforts in the city. ICE, the mayor said, “has killed more of our neighbors than they claim to save.”
Mullin chided Mamdani for his remarks.
“His words are dangerous and incite hostility,” Mullin said.
Mamdani said he spoke with President Donald Trump and Mullin after the shooting and asked for Belgal’s release, but those negotiations were unsuccessful and Belgal was taken from the hospital by ICE.
Giulia Heyward contributed to this story. This story has been updated to fix a typo.
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Ben Feuerherd
Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Ryan Kost
Ryan Kost is a reporter on the day-of news desk, where he covers breaking news and writes enterprise stories about jails, courts, prosecutors and government accountability. His work focuses on the public institutions that shape life in New York. Before joining the newsroom, he lead a multi-part investigation with Columbia Journalism Investigations and New York Focus into how New York prosecutors handle wrongful conviction claims. He's also been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and The Oregonian. Got a tip? Signal: ryankost.20
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Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Arya Sundaram
Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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