The New York State Communist Party is calling for the release of Oscar Belgal, a Dominican immigrant shot by a federal immigration officer in New York City earlier this month, and wants the agent it believes was responsible arrested and charged with attempted murder.
In a joint statement published October 12, the New York State Communist Party and the Young Communist League called on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to end contact with the Trump administration until Belgal is released from federal custody. They also called for a boycott of Target over allegations that ICE agents had been using the parking lot of its Marble Hill store as a staging area for immigration operations—although Target denies having any agreement with ICE—and renewed calls to defund and abolish ICE.
“We must build the movement to defund and abolish ICE once and for all,” the joint statement reads. “ICE operates as an illegal and violent arm of the Federal government outside of any legal accountability or oversight.”
Belgal, 28, was shot in the neck on October 8 during an attempted arrest in the Marble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. According to reports on the incident, his five-year-old son, whom he had recently picked up from school, was sitting in the back seat of his vehicle when an ICE officer opened fire. The child was not physically injured.
Belgal’s attorneys at the Legal Aid Society say federal agents wearing masks and civilian clothing approached his vehicle without identifying themselves before an officer broke a window and fired at least seven shots as Belgal attempted to drive away. The Department of Homeland Security, however, maintains that Belgal struck two government vehicles and accelerated toward officers, prompting them to shoot in self-defense.
In their statement, the two Communist organizations specifically named ICE supervisor Brenden Cuni as the officer responsible, accusing him of having “a long documented history of illegal violence and sadism against immigrants” and calling for his prosecution. An investigation by WIRED following the shooting established Cuni’s presence at the scene with a rifle and examined allegations of misconduct involving him during previous immigration enforcement operations. It also found that federal judges had ruled several arrests involving Cuni unlawful; however, the reporting did not establish that Cuni fired the shots that struck Belgal.
“This is happening in a political context of no legal accountability for ICE agents who commit murder against immigrants and US citizens,” the statement further read. “We do NOT tolerate ICE in our city.”
Belgal, who is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, appeared remotely before an immigration judge on October 15. His attorneys said at the time that he was being held in solitary confinement and needed surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his neck.
Belgal’s attorneys have also challenged his detention in federal court, filing an emergency motion for his release several days after his initial hearing, which the government opposed. His next immigration hearing is scheduled for October 29.
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