ICE Opens Fire in Bronx Operation with 5-Year-Old Child Present; NYC Mayor Demands Full Federal Withdrawal of Immigration Enforcement

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Thursday that he will demand that President Trump withdraw federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from New York City. According to France 24, this rare and forceful public demand stems from an incident in which ICE agents shot a 28-year-old man during an arrest operation in the Marble Hill neighborhood of the Bronx that afternoon, while a 5-year-old child was sitting in the vehicle.

The NYPD said the incident occurred around 4 p.m., when the man was in a confrontation with federal agents. Mamdani subsequently confirmed jointly with the Department of Homeland Security that this was an ICE enforcement operation. Police identified the wounded man as 28-year-old Oscar Bergal, who is currently receiving treatment at a local hospital.

Mamdani wrote on the social media platform X: "This is unforgivable and an extremely serious situation," and said he had spoken with the president. "During our call, I demanded that he terminate all ICE enforcement operations in this city. I will not sit by while ICE agents intimidate our communities," he said.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement that agents "attempted to arrest a criminal illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic with prior major theft convictions, who had been arrested multiple times for assault, robbery, drugs and weapons possession." The statement did not specify how many agents fired their weapons or why. The spokesperson added, "ICE agents provided aid on the spot. The individual is currently alive and being treated at a local hospital."

Notably, the Department of Homeland Security initially claimed the target was affiliated with a Dominican gang, then issued a revised statement removing that sentence. This contradiction renders the official account itself an unresolved mystery.

Outside the enforcement scene, according to AFP reporters on site, hundreds of protesters gathered peacefully at the scene that evening, opposing Trump's hardline immigration policies. A large number of protesters subsequently moved to the hospital treating the wounded. When some attempted to block vehicles from leaving the hospital entrance, they confronted law enforcement and were ultimately driven back by officers who had erected barricades.

Murad Awad, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said: "This incident once again reminds us of the unchecked, rampant violence of ICE spreading through our communities." He demanded "an immediate investigation of this case, the release of body camera footage, and accountability for any ICE agents who used excessive force."

France 24 noted that ICE has been involved in multiple high-profile shooting incidents this year, including the killing of two U.S. citizens earlier in Minneapolis — the latter having sparked intense protests. New York City is one of the Democratic stronghold cities that prohibit local police from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Trump had previously launched fierce attacks on Mamdani, but since the latter took office in January this year, relations between the two have seen an unexpected thaw.

This incident has thrust into the spotlight the tensions triggered by federal immigration enforcement at the local level: in a city that refuses to assist federal enforcement, ICE can still act independently and use force under severely insufficient transparency and accountability mechanisms. The contradictory information in DHS statements, combined with the obvious gaps in the shooting scenario — how many agents fired, and why — means the wounded man's family and the community can currently only piece together what happened from brief police briefings.