NYC NOW - ICE Shooting Raises Questions About Federal Immigration Enforcement in New York City

Episode Date: October 9, 2026

WNYC and Gothamist reporter Ben Feuerherd joins us to break down what we know about the shooting in Marble Hill, where a federal immigration agent shot 28 year old Oscar Belgal while his five year old son was inside the car. They discuss newly released NYPD body camera footage, the department’s role when federal agents operate in New York City, the public's response and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s unsuccessful effort to secure Belgal’s release from federal custody. (edited)   Photo: NYPD bodycam footage Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre. What happened today was an outrage. Tonight, a five-year-old child that's traumatized and terrified. Tonight, millions of our neighbors are wondering whether they will be safe on our streets, in our schools, at their work sites. Those negotiations were unsuccessful. That's New York City Mayor Zoram-Mam Dani, reacting to a shooting.

in Marble Hill in Upper Manhattan Thursday afternoon. The NYPD says at least one federal immigration agent opened fire on a car shooting a 28-year-old man in the neck. Police say his five-year-old son was inside the vehicle at the time of the shooting and that they recovered seven shell casings at the scene. The man identified as Oscar Belgall survived the shooting. NYPD officers rushed him to the hospital, but ICE agents later took the man into federal custody.

Federal officials say Belgaul drove his car towards the agents. Mayor Mumdani says he spent hours talking to President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security to secure Belgall's release. Now, the NYPD has released body camera footage, showing the chaotic aftermath, but that video doesn't show anything that led up to it. The shooting is raising questions about why federal agents opened fire, NYPD protocol for incidents involving federal agents, and whether Mayor Mumdani has done enough to prevent these.

kinds of incidents. WNYC and Gothamist reporter Ben Fewer Heard is covering the story as it develops. Ben, welcome to the show. Hey, thanks for having me. Can you quickly walk us through what happened in Marble Hill on Thursday? What do we know about this shooting? So what we know is what police commissioner Jessica Tisch laid out at a press conference Thursday. She said an NYPD camera captured footage of several ACE agents out in Marble Hill Thursday afternoon. And they were apparently looking to arrest 28-year-old Oscar Begall and the agents, she said some of them

were wearing masks and some of them were even dressed like construction workers. So they apparently identified Begall as he parked his car and then one of the agents walked toward the driver's seat of the window with a gun drawn. Tish said the car moved forward

and that's when it dropped out of view of the NYPD camera. And she said that's when at least one ICE agent fired seven rounds and one of those shots hit the gal in the neck. And then, of course, she also said that his five-year-old son was in the car with him during the shooting but wasn't hurt. Okay. Yeah.

So that body camera footage didn't pick up what actually happened as the shooting was going on. Have federal officials explained why their agents opened fire in the first place? Yeah. So the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen, held a press conference Friday morning. And he basically claimed that Begal quote unquote weaponized his vehicle during the interaction with ice agents. And Mullen also, he really went off on mayors Aramundani and other politicians for governing sanctuary cities where local authorities don't cooperate with civil immigration enforcement. And he said this whole thing could have been avoided if there was cooperation between the city and the feds on immigration enforcement. But I want to make it very clear.

sanctuary politicians, they create an environment for criminal activity to thrive. Not for the American citizens to be safe. Underneath President Trump, he made it very clear he was going to restore law and order in our cities, in our towns, and in our states, despite what happens with career politicians that put criminals in front of law-abiding citizens. When you have sanctuary cities and sanctuary politicians, you endanger the the safety of the public. You reported that the NYPD released body camera footage is the aftermath.

Can you tell us what it shows? Yeah, it's pretty gripping footage that shows the NYPD officers arrive at the scene after the shooting. And the footage shows Bagal sitting on the street with his hands cuffed behind his back, bleeding from the neck. And he's sort of like surrounded by ice agents. And then there's this kind of this chaotic moment where the NYPD officers, they get out of their car.

and they were trying to get an ambulance to the scene, but it's not coming fast enough. So they ultimately decide just to carry them to their NYPD vehicle and put them in the back seat. And then the footage shows them drive off with their sirens on and speed to a hospital. Now, the NYPD says that it wasn't involved in the ICE operation.

So what is the department's role when federal agents conduct operations like this in New York City? Yeah, it's interesting. The department has always maintained that it does not cooperate with civil immigration enforcement. And I think the video that they released Friday actually sort of backs that up. These NYPD officers arrived at the scene after the shooting had taken place,

and they were not there prior or involved in the ICE operation that led to it at all. But what they have done in the past and what they did Thursday night is when protesters show up and maybe try and block ICE vehicles from driving down city streets. And when NYPD officers were clear the roadway of those protesters and allow ICE to drive off. So it's basically it's the NYPD's position that they would do the same for anyone, regardless of who was in the car. If there is a mass of people blocking the street, they would clear the roadway and allow the cars to move. But it's becoming a real sort of point of contention because activists and people who want to confront ICE view those actions as the NYPD aiding ice.

But the NYPD definitely doesn't view it that way. Ben, what can you tell us about the public reactions to this shooting? Yeah, so there's been a real outcry against it in the city. All sorts of elected officials have condemned the shooting, and there were protests that sprang up almost immediately after the shooting in the neighborhood. There are more demonstrations scheduled for Friday in Manhattan and likely in the neighborhood where the shooting happened. And of course, Mayor Zoroamam Dani has been really ferociously speaking out against ICE

and calling on them to leave the city and end their operations here. Yeah, I understand that some area officials have been expressing some concern already about ice activity in this neighborhood and a target in the area as well. Yeah, so a city council member, Piorina Sanchez, who represents the area, told Morning Edition on Friday that federal agents had been regularly gathering just blocks from where the shooting happened. They're terrorizing our communities. They were staging at the target, which is.

two blocks away from where this occurred, almost on a daily basis. Many elected officials joined and have been calling. I led the letter to call for Target to stop cooperating with ICE and for the Kingsbridge Associates who co-owned that lot. And so I absolutely stand with Mayor Mamdani, join all the area elected officials who are calling for the same thing, ICE out of New York City. After being taken into federal custody, Mayor Mamdani says he tried unsuccessfully to secure McGaul's release. What does this incident tell us about his ability to push back against ICE?

Yeah, I think it shows there's limits to what MAMDani can achieve with his relationship with President Trump. Mamm Dani had success in the past getting the president to release people who were in federal immigration custody after he personally reached out. One was a Columbia student who was arrested at her building a few months ago. Mbdani said ICE released her after he spoke with President Trump, which was surprising. It showed, you know, just how much influence the mayor had on President Trump. And yeah, I think something like this, what happened Thursday is a real test for the mayor, and he seems to know it.

In his first tweet after the shooting, he said what happened was unconscionable and incredibly serious. And it's certainly a serious situation for the city. And definitely the mayor himself, I think, tries to keep everything together while also delivering on his campaign promises. Yeah. because he did promise to keep New Yorkers safe from actions like this. That's WNYC and Gothamist reporter Ben, Fewer Heard.

Ben, thanks for walking us through this reporting. Thanks. And for more on this story as it develops, visit our news site, gotamist.com. Thanks for listening to NYC now. I'm Junae Pierre. Have a nice weekend. See you next time.