Protests gathered in New York on Friday following an incident where Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot Oscar Bergal, a 28-year-old Dominican man, in the Bronx on Thursday. Bergal was wounded in the neck, while a five-year-old child in his car was unharmed. The shooting drew swift criticism from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who expressed his discontent on social media.
US Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin responded to Mamdani's criticism, stating that the mayor's words are "dangerous and incite hostility." Mullin questioned who would take criminals off the streets if ICE were abolished, as Mamdani had suggested. The incident has sparked a showdown between the city's Democratic mayor and the Trump administration.
Hundreds of protesters chanted slogans such as "No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here" and "No ICE" in Manhattan on Friday. New York, a Democratic stronghold, is one of several US cities that bars its police forces from assisting with federal immigration enforcement. Mamdani had sought to speak with President Donald Trump and demanded that immigration agents be withdrawn from the city.
Video footage of the shooting showed a plainclothes federal agent rushing toward a silver car with a gun drawn, followed by a second officer drawing a gun as the car pulled away. The incident could test the relationship between Trump and Mamdani, which has been described as surprisingly warm.
Mullin stated that Bergal had an extensive criminal history and was attempting to evade arrest. He claimed that ICE officers did not know there was a child in the car when they opened fire. According to Mullin, Bergal had come to the US legally a few years ago but had committed multiple crimes since then.
Marcos Charles, a senior ICE official, provided further details on the incident, stating that Bergal had refused lawful orders to exit his vehicle. Charles claimed that Bergal had accelerated his vehicle, smashing into two ICE vehicles, and had used his vehicle as a weapon against officers. ICE agents have been involved in several high-profile shootings this year.
The incident is the latest in a series of controversies surrounding ICE shootings. In March 2025, Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was shot and killed by ICE in Texas, while in July, a Mexican man, Lorenzo Salgado, died after being shot by an ICE officer in Houston. Two Americans were also shot and killed by federal immigration agents in separate incidents in Minnesota earlier this year.
Key points
- The Trump administration defended the ICE shooting, citing the suspect's criminal history.
- Protests broke out in New York, with demonstrators chanting anti-ICE slogans.
- The incident has sparked a controversy over immigration enforcement and police cooperation.
