An ICE Shooting in Marble Hill: Two Accounts, and a Plea for Release
Lawyers for Oscar Belgal, 28, say an ICE agent shot him in the neck without identifying himself, firing into a car that held Belgal's 5-year-old son. They have asked a federal court in Brooklyn to order his immediate release.
The Wednesday filing from the Legal Aid Society says Belgal is still held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn with a bullet lodged in his neck. He has not had surgery, his lawyers say. They say he has lost feeling on the left side of his face and his hearing is impaired. He did not know the armed men were ICE officers until he woke in a hospital. The Guardian
According to the lawyers, Belgal had just picked up his son from school and had stopped by a fire hydrant in Marble Hill while looking for parking when the men approached. The men were armed and masked, the filing says. They did not identify themselves, show papers, or speak with Belgal in any real way before the shooting, the lawyers say. The agent then broke the driver-side window and fired several shots into the car. Belgal's son screamed from the back seat, the lawyers say. Courthouse News
NYPD security camera footage shows part of what happened. A man in a sweatshirt and red hat runs toward Belgal's car with his gun raised, then breaks the driver-side window on a second hit with the gun barrel. A second officer draws his gun by the side of the car. Belgal drives forward into the street, away from the officers, with the man in the red hat running after him. The damaged car later stopped against a concrete barrier, with bullet holes in the windshield and rear window.
Bystander video and NYPD body-camera footage show officers handcuffing Belgal and treating his neck wound as he sat on the pavement beside the car. NYPD officers took him to a nearby hospital. His lawyers say he was bleeding from the neck wound and allege officers did not give immediate medical help after the shooting. U.S. News
Federal officials describe a different order of events. They said Belgal refused to get out when ICE officers approached him. Reuters The Department of Homeland Security said officers fired only after Belgal hit two government vehicles with his car and drove toward other officers. Officers fired because they believed their lives were at risk, DHS said. The department said the shooting happened on a Thursday afternoon and is still under investigation.
The broader context here is a clash between two kinds of evidence that a court will need to weigh. One is spoken testimony about whether officers identified themselves or warned Belgal, questions that matter under the Fourth Amendment — the constitutional rule against unreasonable seizure — and under ICE rules on use of force. The other is video. Surveillance, bystander, and body-camera clips pin down where officers stood, when glass broke, how the car moved, and what aid followed, which narrows disagreement about sequence while leaving intent and perception disputed.
Looking at what this means for detention and court oversight, the petition links medical need to custody. Federal jails must provide adequate medical care, much like a hospital's duty to patients in its care. With a bullet still in the neck and reported nerve symptoms, a judge can act fast through release, a hospital transfer, or an order for surgery inside custody. The habeas petition — a formal request for a court to review detention — in Brooklyn gives the judge those choices without deciding the immigration case or whether the shooting was lawful. Those issues will proceed separately while the investigation continues.
