New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani compared an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent to a mass shooter after federal agents shot a man during an immigration operation in Marble Hill, intensifying the confrontation between City Hall and the Trump administration over federal enforcement tactics.
The incident occurred in October, when federal agents were conducting an operation in the Bronx neighborhood. Initial accounts identified the man as Oscar Bergal, who was inside a vehicle with a 5-year-old child. The child was not physically injured.
Mamdani later pointed to footage showing an agent wearing a construction-style vest and carrying a long gun, arguing that the agent's appearance made it difficult for residents to distinguish federal law enforcement officers from potential threats.
The mayor's comparison, reported by The Guardian, has sharpened the political dispute over how federal immigration agents conduct operations in residential neighborhoods.
According to the preliminary account delivered by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch during an October 8 press conference, surveillance footage showed a plainclothes federal officer approaching the driver's side of the vehicle with a gun drawn. Another officer approached near the driver's-side headlight before the vehicle moved forward and out of camera view.
The NYPD said at least seven rounds were discharged and that the driver was struck in the neck. Tisch said that New York City police were not involved in the federal operation before the shooting.
The account remains preliminary. The full sequence of events, the circumstances leading to the shots and the justification for the use of force must be established through the investigation.
Mamdani has criticized the agents' tactics and renewed his call for ICE to leave New York City. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has defended federal immigration enforcement, reflecting a broader clash over the role of federal agents in cities whose elected leaders oppose the administration's immigration policies.
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