Ellen Barkin posts ‘Burn ICE to the ground’ after agent shoots man in New York City
by The Washington Times AI News Desk · The Washington TimesActress Ellen Barkin wrote “Burn ICE to the ground” on X on Friday, responding to a reporter’s post about the shooting of a man by a federal immigration agent in New York City, according to Breitbart News.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot Oscar Belgal, 28, during an attempted arrest Thursday in Manhattan’s Marble Hill neighborhood after federal officers approached his vehicle and it began moving, authorities said. His 5-year-old son was in the back seat and was not hurt. Mr. Belgal was struck in the neck. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said evidence indicates at least one agent fired seven rounds.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that agents were carrying out a targeted operation to arrest a man from the Dominican Republic who is in the country illegally. The department alleges he has ties to the Trinitarios gang and a prior conviction for grand larceny.
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At a Friday news conference, Marcos Charles, a senior ICE official, said Mr. Belgal accelerated and smashed into two ICE vehicles, then drove toward other officers. Mr. Tisch’s department has confirmed damage to one ICE vehicle but has not established the sequence federal officials described. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said agents did not know a child was in the car.
Footage released by the NYPD shows plainclothes agents approaching the parked vehicle, one with a gun drawn. The car then drives out of camera view, and the cameras did not capture the shooting, Ms. Tisch said. Separate footage obtained by ABC News shows Mr. Belgal reversing out of the space and driving off as an agent punches the driver’s window. It does not show the alleged ramming. A deli worker near the scene told CBS New York the car was driving away from the agents. Interpretations of the confrontation remain disputed. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating, Mr. Mullin said.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken issued a temporary order barring the government from deporting Mr. Belgal or transferring him outside the Southern or Eastern Districts of New York or the District of New Jersey while the court considers a petition challenging his detention. The order remains in effect unless the judge assigned to the case vacates or modifies it. It does not resolve his immigration status or whether his detention is lawful. His attorneys say he was arrested without a warrant and that a bullet remains in his body.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Thursday night that ICE “must be abolished,” and Gov. Kathy Hochul urged a halt to ICE operations in the state. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said her office is investigating.
Ms. Barkin, 72, has criticized immigration enforcement before. In November, she posted comments questioning the difference between ICE arrests and the Gestapo’s roundups of Jews, Breitbart reported at the time.
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