ICE agent shoots NYC driver, lawyers claim unlawful arrest and demand release
An ICE agent shot Oscar Belgal in New York City, and his lawyers argue the arrest was unlawful, urging his immediate release from Brooklyn detention.
On Oct. 8, ICE agents conducting a “targeted enforcement operation” in New York City approached Oscar Belgal’s car, shattered a window and shot him in the neck, according to a filing by his Legal Aid Society lawyers. The lawyers contend the masked agents did not identify themselves, failed to provide medical assistance, and handcuffed Belgal while he was semi-conscious, constituting an unlawful arrest lacking any removal charge.
ICE’s executive associate director Marcos Charles later claimed Belgal accelerated into police vehicles, a narrative contradicted by NYPD surveillance showing a plain-clothes agent with a drawn gun. The shooting ignited protests, prompting Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to call for the release of body-camera footage and to criticize ICE. Belgal, still held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, suffers facial numbness, hearing loss and a bullet lodged in his neck, leading his attorneys Perry McAninch and Elyssa Williams to demand his immediate release. A similar case in Austin involving Wilber Garcés Perez underscores broader concerns about federal agents using lethal force.
Why it matters
The incident raises serious questions about ICE's use of force, detainee rights, and accountability of federal law-enforcement.
How this story developed
- Aug 13 San Antonio immigrants live in constant fear as ICE arrests surge
- Sep 20 A man was wounded after being shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in North Austin, Texas, and taken to a local hospital.
- Sep 27 A federal judge scheduled a personal appearance for the man on September 30 and issued a temporary order halting his deportation.
- Sep 29 The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Justice Department’s emergency request, letting the Trump administration continue deporting migrants to third countries while the policy’s legality is examined.
- Sep 30 Supreme Court issued an emergency order allowing third‑country deportations to continue.
- Sep 30 An immigration judge ruled that Salah Sarsour, head of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, can be deported on national-security grounds despite his claim that the case targets his Palestinian-rights advocacy.
- Sep 30 The Justice Department lodged complaints with the 8th Circuit alleging that Minnesota federal judges made partisan statements about a Trump-era deportation surge.
- Oct 1 A federal indictment charging Garces Perez with assault was filed.
- Oct 3 The filing requests that the judges be barred from hearing Department of Homeland Security cases.
- Oct 3 A Chicago immigration judge allowed a possible deportation of Salah Sarsour.
- Oct 8 A person was shot by federal agents in Marble Hill, Bronx, and is now receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
- Oct 9 ICE announced it will continue enforcement actions in New York City despite the shooting.
- Oct 10 Protests spread to Manhattan and lower Manhattan, drawing thousands of demonstrators.
- Oct 10 An off‑duty ICE agent was shot after allegedly assaulting a homeowner and his father in Fresno.
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