A federal immigration officer shot and wounded Oscar Belgal in Marble Hill on Thursday as Belgal drove with a 5-year-old boy, officials said. The Department of Homeland Security called the encounter a “targeted enforcement operation.” New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for ICE’s abolition and urged the Trump administration to halt immigration enforcement operations in New York.
A federal operation, a wounded man
Officials said the officer shot Belgal in the neck. Federal enforcement unfolded in a car carrying a child, while the department’s account centers on its effort to arrest Belgal. The facts stand in sharp contrast: a federal officer wounded a man, and the agency describes its action as targeted enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security called Belgal a “criminal illegal alien” with a grand larceny conviction and a history of other arrests. The department, which sought to arrest him, supplied that characterization. It doesn't change the reported outcome: a federal officer shot Belgal in the neck, and medical staff took him to a hospital.
Mamdani called the shooting an outrage. He said Thursday night that he’d spent two hours pressing President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to release Belgal and stop immigration enforcement operations in the city. The account records the mayor’s demands, but it doesn't report any agreement to meet them.
The mayor’s demand meets federal power
Federal authorities removed Belgal from the hospital late Thursday night and took him away, Mamdani said. The mayor’s account leaves federal authorities in control of the wounded man after the shooting, despite his appeal for Belgal’s release. The article doesn't say where authorities took Belgal or what happened after they removed him from the hospital.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat, said she delivered a similar message to Trump and Mullin by phone. She and Mamdani urged the president and the Homeland Security secretary to halt enforcement operations, but federal authorities still took Belgal away late Thursday night, according to the account. Officials made their calls. The report describes no change to the operation.
No account of community action
The report describes no mutual-aid effort, neighborhood organizing, or other grassroots response. Mamdani called for abolition and a halt to enforcement; Hochul made a phone call to Trump and Mullin. Neither is described as leading a community action, and the article gives no details about a wider response from people in Marble Hill.
The account also identifies no legislation, election proposal, nonprofit organization, or service provider connected to the shooting. It stays focused on the federal officer’s use of force, the department’s justification, and elected officials appealing to the same federal leaders responsible for the enforcement operation. The department calls it “targeted.” The officer shot Belgal in the neck; he went to a hospital, and federal authorities removed him late Thursday night.