Mamdani Goes To Bat For Gangbanger Criminal Illegal Alien As Anti-ICE Rioters Attack Cops

Anti-ICE rioters clashed with police overnight in New York City after an ICE officer shot a criminal illegal immigrant with suspected gang ties during an attempted arrest. 

Footage shows rioters attempting to pull down barriers as police officers attempted to maintain order after hundreds of agitators took to the streets chanting slogans like “F*ck ICE,” and “the people united will never be defeated.” The unrest followed the shooting of 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, an illegal alien from the Dominican Republic with a lengthy criminal history.

A conscious Belgal was transported to New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital after he was shot in the neck by a federal agent after ICE attempted to detain him in his vehicle. A  5-year-old child was reportedly in the back of the vehicle at the time of the incident and was not injured. Belgal is believed to be in stable condition. 

The incident led to a violent reaction from agitators who stormed the streets outside the hospital chanting things like “from Palestine to Mexico, all these walls have got to go” as others held up signs saying “break the chains.” 

During one clash captured on video, rioters attempted to pull down metal gates set up by police outside the hospital. Other photos show masked men wearing keffiyehs pushing down barriers in front of the hospital. Five people were arrested during the clashes, according to the New York Post.

Belgal has a prior conviction for grand larceny and arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession, and weapons charges, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. He’s also associated with the Trinitarios gang,  a Dominican criminal gang founded in New York City. Men linked to the gang were involved in the shooting last year of a Customs and Border Protection officer in Manhattan. 

Lashing out at ICE Thursday night, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani claimed he asked President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to release the convicted criminal. 

“For the past two hours, I’ve been on the phone with President Trump and Secretary Mullin negotiating the release of the man ICE agents shot. Those negotiations were unsuccessful,” he said. “Now I made clear to the president, to the secretary, our request that ICE agents leave the scene entirely — as well as the demand that ICE stop its enforcement actions in New York City.”

Mamdani also claimed that ICE “operates with impunity, that they sow chaos and terror across our country” and “that they have killed far more of our neighbors than they could ever have claimed to save.”

Mamdani never called on the violent mob to stop attacking law enforcement officers and destroying property or urged rioters to let the justice system run its course.

The Department of Homeland Security noted that it was the NYPD who released Belgal in December 2023 thanks to its sanctuary city policies. 

“When dangerous illegal aliens are released back onto the streets by radical sanctuary politicians, our officers are forced to make arrests at large in the community in unpredictable and dangerous environments,” DHS said. “Our officers should not have to risk their lives, and innocent Americans should not have to face unnecessary danger, because sanctuary politicians refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement.”