Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin rushed to correct himself Friday during a press conference after appearing to mistakenly admit that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer “escalated” ahead of Thursday’s shooting incident in New York City.
On Thursday, an ICE officer shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, who was in his vehicle at the time with his 5-year-old child. At least seven rounds were fired by one ICE agent, at least one of which struck Belgal in the neck, according to police.
“In this particular case, we had taken all precautions to keep him from fleeing. He went ahead and fled,” Mullin said. “Because of the safety, we escalated — uh, or because of his escalation, we had to use force.”
According to video of the incident captured by a New York Police Department surveillance camera, Belgal was approached by one plainclothes federal officer with a gun drawn. Another federal officer approached shortly thereafter. Belgal’s vehicle can then be seen moving forward out of view of the surveillance camera.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani voiced outrage over the incident, claiming that ICE had “killed far more of our neighbors than they could ever have claimed to save.” Mullin lashed out at Mamdani during the press conference over his remarks.
“Right now, ICE has in detention 258 illegals that are wanted for murder charges, just in New York alone,” Mullin said. “I'm speaking facts, the mayor speaks with political tone. His words are dangerous and incite hostility! It doesn't help.”