Bronx ICE Shooting Ignites New York Protests Amid Trump Administration Defense

New York City was gripped by protests on Friday, sparked by an incident where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers shot a Dominican man, leading to a heated public dispute between the city’s Democratic mayor and the Trump administration.

The shooting, which occurred in the Bronx on Thursday, left 28-year-old Oscar Bergal with a neck wound during an ICE operation. A five-year-old child present in his vehicle at the time was fortunately unharmed. The incident drew immediate condemnation from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took to X to declare “Abolish ICE” – a sentiment frequently echoed by the political left in opposition to Republican President Donald Trump’s stringent immigration policies.

In a swift retort, US Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin criticized Mamdani’s remarks, telling reporters they were “dangerous and incite hostility.” Mullin challenged the mayor, asking, “Mayor, if you abolish ICE, who’s going to take criminals off the streets of your own town? Who’s going to take the murderers and the thieves and the gangbangers?”

An AFP journalist observed hundreds of demonstrators stretching several blocks across Manhattan on Friday, chanting slogans such as “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here” and “No ICE.” New York, a known Democratic stronghold, is among several US cities that prohibit their local police forces from assisting federal immigration enforcement efforts. On Thursday, Mamdani indicated his intention to engage with President Trump and demand the withdrawal of immigration agents from the city, an interaction that could strain the surprisingly cordial relationship between the two leaders.

Video footage of the shooting, circulated by US media on Friday, depicted what appeared to be a plainclothes federal agent approaching a silver car with a firearm drawn. The vehicle briefly reversed as the agent struck the driver-side window. Subsequently, a second plainclothes officer brandished a gun, pointing it at the driver as the car sped away off-screen, seemingly colliding with a passing vehicle.

Mullin stated that Bergal possessed an extensive criminal record and was attempting to evade arrest. “He came to this country legally a few years ago, and ever since he’s come in, he’s committed crime and crime after crime,” the Homeland Security secretary asserted. Mullin also claimed that ICE officers were unaware of a child’s presence in the car when they discharged their weapons.

Marcos Charles, a senior ICE official, informed reporters that Bergal had “refused lawful orders to exit his vehicle.” Charles elaborated, saying, “He then accelerated his vehicle, smashing into two of our government ICE vehicles, and then weaponised his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate, going towards other officers.” He concluded, “Our officers, using their training and believing that their lives and the lives of their partners and the general public were in danger, used their training and fired weapons.”

ICE agents, often operating in civilian attire and with covered faces, have been involved in a number of high-profile shootings this year. These include the shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, by ICE in March 2025, which the Texas Tribune reported as the first known killing of an American by immigration agents during Trump’s second term. More recently, a Mexican national, Lorenzo Salgado, died in July after being shot by an ICE officer in Houston, Texas. Additionally, two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were fatally shot by federal immigration agents in separate incidents in Minnesota earlier this year during a crackdown on undocumented migrants in the northern state.