I.C.E Shooting in Marble Hill Unites New York

When I stepped out of class on an October afternoon, my heart sank. A New York Times alert talked about an I.C.E related shooting of a Dominican man in my neighborhood of Marble Hill. My thoughts raced and I was worried it was someone I knew.

I couldn’t leave campus because I had another class but the dread lingered in the back of my mind. Before class, I read the New York Times’s article as more details kept coming out. The man was a stranger, but the information still made me panic. I.C.E Agents appeared on West 225th Street disguised as construction workers. They fired seven rounds into 28-year-old Oscar Belgal’s Silver Honda SUV. Belgal’s five-year-old son was in the backside. One bullet hit Belgal in the neck.

The Department of Homeland Security said that Belgal, an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic, had a criminal record and alleged gang ties. They also claimed that Belgal tried to accelerate his vehicle to attack the I.C.E agents. My neighbors and other residents of Marble Hill were so angered by the incident that they began to surround the I.C.E Agents. That brought the NYPD to the block.

NYPD stands across from protesters. Photo Credit: Greg Pak

The nature of the shooting attracted the attention of many New York leaders. The anger and disbelief that a child could’ve gotten hurt united the neighborhood to stand together. As I rushed to the scene on the 1 Train and I got there to hear the politicians talk about their outrage. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, “Let me say this plainly: What happened today was an outrage. Tonight, a 5-year-old child sits 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. Tonight, New Yorkers across the five boroughs are asking whether their civil liberties will be respected, whether law and order is supposed to look like a man carrying a long gun, wearing a mask. We know that ICE is rotten to its core. Today’s shooting is only further devastating confirmation of what we have long known: that ICE operates with impunity, that they sow chaos and terror across our country, that they have killed far more of our neighbors than they could ever have claimed to save.”

New York City Mayor Zhoran Mamdani. Photo Credit: Greg Pak

Then Public Advocate Jumaane Williams stepped forward to speak, “I’m sure by tomorrow morning, they are going to try to make the gentleman they shot into the worst human being you ever heard of but I want you to know that a father, picking up his child was shot by a rogue agency controlled by Donald Trump.” Williams said.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Photo Credit: Greg Pak

The Democratic Socialist nominee for the 13th Congressional District Darializa Avila Chevalier also spoke that night and said “I’m honestly at a loss for words because what so many of us witnessed today was one of the most tragic things we could possibly witness.”

Democratic Socialist nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District Darializa Avila Chevalier. Photo Credit: Greg Pak

After the speeches, the politicians and leaders marched with the crowd across the Broadway Bridge that connects the Bronx to Manhattan. They stopped across the street from the Presbyterian Allen Hospital across the street where Belgal was being held at the time.

The next day, I.C.E took Oscar Belgal into custody and brought him to Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Mayor Mamdani said he spent two unsuccessful hours on the phone with President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin trying to get them to release Belgal. His 5 year old son, according to his mother, is severely traumatized by the incident. She said that he has stopped speaking. Belgal’s lawyers are suing for his release. The bullet is still lodged in his neck and he has not received any medical attention while detained.

Photos by gregpak.net