ICE officers ‘did not identify themselves’ ahead of Bronx shooting: Lawyers

Lawyers for the man shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York City say the officers involved “did not identify themselves” before they opened fire on him, according to recent court filings. 

On Oct. 8, Oscar Belgal was picking up his 5-year-old son before he was stopped by ICE officers who did not “show any documents or otherwise communicate with Oscar in any substantive way,” Legal Aid Society, a group representing Belgal, described.

The group continued in the 58-page document filed Wednesday that “without identifying himself, the first man struck and shattered Oscar’s window and began firing a pistol into Oscar’s car while his son cowered in the back seat.”

“One of those bullets struck Oscar in the neck and he immediately began to bleed. Believing that his dad had been fatally shot, his son screamed hysterically that the masked men had killed his father,” the filing states. 

The incident, which was captured on ICE officer body cameras, resulted in Belgal being taken to an area hospital, while his child remains unharmed and with a family member, according to New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch. The body camera footage has not been released.

Legal Aid attorneys serving as counsel for Belgal, Perry McAninch and Elyssa Williams, said in a press release that their client’s ICE detention was “unlawful from its inception.”

 “With a bullet still lodged in his neck and his serious medical needs unmet, every additional day in custody puts him at further risk. The Court must intervene and order his immediate release,” McAninch and Williams stated. 

In the hours following the shooting, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) said he called President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to negotiate Belgal’s release from federal custody but was “unsuccessful.”

Mullin detailed the phone call, saying at a press conference that Trump agreed to move Belgal to the NYPD’s custody if charges against him were to be prosecuted, but Mamdani did not agree, according to Mullin.

The secretary further accused Belgal of participating in “extensive criminal activity” and stated ICE officers involved in the incident were not aware of Belgal’s son in the backseat. Mullin stated the ICE officers will be put on administrative leave while the department investigates the incident.

Mamdani has also called for ICE to release the body-camera footage of the incident. The NYPD has already released body-camera footage from its officers of the moments after the shooting.

When asked about the filing, DHS referred The Hill to Mullin’s Friday press conference where he stated, “during a targeted fugitive operation on September 18, ICE attempted to arrest Belgal in the Bronx.”

“He disobeyed ICE officers’ lawful commands and fled law enforcement. For the safety of the general public, ICE stood down and did not pursue him that day,” Mullin continued. 

This story was updated at 1:32 p.m.