Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he attempted to negotiate with President Trump for the release of a “criminal illegal alien” and alleged gang member who was shot by ICE agents Thursday in the Bronx, while renewing his call to abolish the federal agency.
“Around 4 p.m. this afternoon, a New Yorker was shot by ICE agents in Marble Hill,” Mamdani said angrily during a late-night news conference near the site of a rowdy anti-ICE protest.
The mayor said he had spent two hours on the phone with President Trump and [DHS] Secretary Mullin seeking the release of the man shot by ICE agents, but that the talks had failed.
The migrant, identified by the NYPD as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, was shot in the neck and hospitalized. Mamdani said unmarked ICE vehicles later removed him from NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital.
Speaking over protesters who shouted that he was “complicit,” Mamdani described Immigration and Customs Enforcement as “rotten to its core” and declared that the agency “must be abolished.”
“What does Trump have to say about all of this?” Mamdani demanded.
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He said he had told both the president and the secretary that New York wanted ICE agents to leave the scene and demanded that the agency halt its enforcement operations in the city.
The Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents were trying to arrest Belgal, who is from the Dominican Republic, when the shooting occurred. Officials alleged that he has ties to the Trinitarios gang.
“We know, and I have said this directly, whether to the president or to the public, ICE undermines public safety. It makes us less safe,” the mayor said.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at least one ICE agent fired seven rounds and emphasized that the “NYPD had no involvement in the federal operation prior to the shooting.”
Tisch said Belgal was taken to NewYork Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where he arrived in stable condition.
But shortly before the press conference began at about 11:20 p.m., Mamdani said ICE agents placed Belgal in an unmarked vehicle and “whisked him away.”
“Let me say this plainly, what happened today was an outrage,” Mamdani said.
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