Federal agents shot and arrested a "criminal illegal alien" in the Bronx on Thursday, according to the Department of Homeland Security, after he allegedly rammed into them during a law enforcement operation despite having his young son in the vehicle.
Democrats and the liberal media rushed to paint the nonfatal shooting of 28-year-old Dominican national Oscar Bengal as terroristic or at the very least as unwarranted, and the alien — whose deportation was temporarily blocked on Friday by an Obama judge — as a misunderstood, music-loving "New Yorker."
'I am angry tonight.'
It appears that Democrats and their fellow travelers have once again rallied behind a dangerous foreign thug who has had numerous run-ins with the law.
Thug life
Immigration and Customs Enforcement intelligence shows that "Bengal traveled to the southern border as part of a caravan seeking to exploit the Biden administration’s disastrous open border," a DHS spokesman told Blaze News. "He and countless others successfully snuck into our country at an unknown place and time."
After stealing into the U.S., Bengal continued to break American law.
He was, for instance, arrested in New York City in 2023 and charged with two counts of petit larceny, two counts of third-degree robbery, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon with intention to use, grand larceny, two counts criminal possession of stolen property, two counts of menacing, and two counts of menacing with a weapon.
Bengal ultimately pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny and was sentenced to five years' probation. The DHS indicated that he was cut loose before ICE could lodge a detainer.
Bengal was then arrested in August 2025 after allegedly selling fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin to an undercover cop on multiple occasions.
According to court documents reviewed by the New York Daily News, the Dominican was indicted in December on one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree and nine counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in third degree.
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Screenshot, New York Police Department, X video
A spokesperson for the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office told the Daily News that at the time he was shot last week, Bengal had "been out on supervised release" for the drug charges. Court records show that his next scheduled appearance in the drug case is Dec. 2.
Bengal also faces active charges in New York for alleged assault and robbery, had protection orders lodged against him twice in January, and is allegedly a "documented associate of the notorious Trinitario street gang in the Bronx, NY," according to the DHS.
A DHS spokesman told Blaze News that on Sept. 18, ICE attempted to apprehend Bengal 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," said the spokesman.
Bengal's latest arrest
When ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers positively identified Bengal driving on Thursday, they "used their vehicles to conduct a vehicle stop and approached Bengal's vehicle on foot," said the DHS.
The DHS alleged that Bengal "then rammed the ICE vehicles and appeared that he intended to strike officers on foot."
Evidently believing that their lives were in jeopardy, one ICE officer opened fire, grazing Bengal's neck.
"Bengal refused lawful orders to exit his vehicle. He then accelerated his vehicle, smashing into two of our ICE vehicles. He then weaponized his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate his vehicle toward other officers," said ICE ERO Executive Director Marcos Charles. "Our officer, believing that their life, the lives of their partners, and the lives of the general public were in danger, used their training and fired their weapon."
Bengal's lawyers did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment by deadline.
At the time of the shooting, Bengal's young son was in his vehicle.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin emphasized that "Oscar put his child at risk when he chose to accelerate, hit two federal vehicles, and also weaponize the vehicle and move towards at an accelerated rate towards officers that were trying to apprehend him."
Mullin noted that his agency knew that this was going to be a "contentious arrest" and that precautions were taken to maximize safety at the time it was conducted.
Bodycam footage released by the New York Police Department shows police taking Bengal from the officers who had administered first aid and transporting the convict to the hospital, where he received attention for what the DHS described as a "superficial" injury.
Leftists rush in
After the shooting, a mob soon gathered outside New York Presbyterian Allen Hospital to protest ICE, trapping federal officers inside the building, reported the New York Daily News.
In the hours and days that followed Bengal's arrest, the anti-ICE protests turned violent.
Leftist officials and the liberal media helped feed the mob's rage and misconceptions, namely that ICE had targeted a "New Yorker" and that the shooting was unjustified.
New York City Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani rushed to condemn the incident, tweeting, "This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation. I have called the President; when we speak I will demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city. I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities."
"Our thoughts are with the injured New Yorker and his family tonight. We are praying for his recovery," added the democratic socialist mayor.
Mamdani, who tried to negotiate the convict's release, later stated, "I am angry tonight. Because today ICE shot a New Yorker. They shot a New Yorker while his five year old child was in the car. ICE makes this city less safe."
Carmen De La Rosa, a Democrat New York City Council member who was born in the Dominican Republic, attacked ICE, stating that "no matter what DHS alleges this adult male did, that does not warrant a death sentence."
"This is a rogue, untrained, unprofessional agency and a dastardly strain on the country," said the foreign-born leftist. "It must be abolished."
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) noted on Thursday that she had spoken with President Donald Trump and Mullin and "expressed outrage on behalf of New Yorkers and urged them to halt ICE enforcement operations in New York."
The following day, Hochul insinuated that ICE — not the criminal alien — had put Bengal's son at risk and suggested after speaking to the boy's mother that "all I wanted to do was give her a hug and tell her this never should have happened to her family."
Democratic Socialists of America called the shooting a "horrifying demonstration of the terror ICE brings into our communities."
When similarly melting down, Darializa Avila Chevalier — the Islamic anti-police, anti-Israel, anti-border socialist now poised to win a congressional seat in New York as a Democrat — initially referred to the criminal noncitizen as a "member of our community."
After New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tish publicly referred to Bengal's thuggish history, Chevalier told Hasan Piker that Bengal's criminal record and immigration status "doesn't even matter."
"Police Commissioner Tisch came out, and I understand that it is her role to provide more information, and that is why she comes to these press conferences," said the congressional candidate. "But rather than, you know, condemn ICE, rather than condemn the shooting or the events that had just taken place, she started to villainize Oscar, right?"
Chevalier suggested further that the thug's alleged efforts to evade and attack law enforcement constituted self-defense and stressed that "he needs to be released."
The New York Times, of course, did its part by painting Bengal as a "friendly," music-loving neighbor.
While his name has appeared with multiple spellings in court documents and recent reports, the DHS confirmed that the proper spelling is "Bengal."
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