Anti-ICE Protests Draw 5,000 in NYC After Bronx Shooting of Migrant Oscar Belgal

Thousands marched in lower Manhattan Friday demanding ICE be abolished after federal agents shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal in the Bronx. A 5-year-old child was in the vehicle at the time.

Thousands march in NYC after ICE agents shoot migrant in Bronx

Up to 5,000 demonstrators flooded lower Manhattan on Friday afternoon, NY Post Metro reports, one day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal inside his car in the Marble Hill neighborhood of the Bronx.

Chants of "Abolish ICE," "ICE out of New York," and "Stop the deportations" echoed through the streets during the hours-long march. Among the crowd were activist Chelsea Manning, city advocate Jumaane Williams, and congressional hopefuls Brad Lander and Micah Lasher.

One protester, Ilyana, who declined to give her last name, said she has "been protesting all my life" but called the current situation "some next level s–t." "They are ripping people from their families, shooting people in front of their children, and no one is doing anything about it," she said.

Murad Awawdeh, CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, addressed the crowd at Foley Square. "Yesterday, a New Yorker was shot in the head in front of his five-year-old child," he said. Kyle Ishmael, 41, chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party, said he was marching because "we are a country and a nation, a city and a state of immigrants," adding that "no one deserves to be shot — especially when they're in their car with their five-year-old child."

Calls of "Fire Tisch" were also audible throughout the demonstration, directed at NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Tisch confirmed that at least one ICE agent fired seven rounds during Thursday's operation and emphasized that the "NYPD had no involvement in the federal operation prior to the shooting." A 5-year-old child, believed to be Belgal's son, was inside the vehicle at the time and was unharmed, she said.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani had condemned the shooting of "a New Yorker by ICE agents in Marble Hill" at a late-night press conference Thursday. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin pushed back on that characterization. "You're going to call that a New Yorker?! I think that's a far cry," Mullin said.

Mullin stated that Belgal "was known to be affiliated with" the Trinitarios, a violent street gang that originated among Dominican inmates at Rikers Island in the early 1990s and has since expanded into a multinational criminal organization with a presence in the Bronx and upper Manhattan.

Belgal, a native of the Dominican Republic, was targeted by ICE agents over his alleged ties to the gang. The NYPD confirmed he has two prior arrests in New York City: a 2023 robbery charge, to which he pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny and received five years' probation, and a 2025 arrest for criminal sale of a controlled substance, which remains pending. Federal officials said Belgal was subject to an immigration detainer and was out on probation at the time of the shooting.

Source: NY Post Metro