WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal immigration officers opened fire on a Dominican man whom they were trying to arrest in New York because they believed their lives were in danger, a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said Friday.
Marcos Charles made the comments alongside U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and other immigration officials during a news conference in Washington meant to “highlight the dangerous consequences of sanctuary city policies.”
The 28-year-old man, whom New York City police identified as Oscar Belgal, was shot in the neck Thursday as he drove his car with a 5-year-old boy inside, officials said. He was not killed.
The Department of Homeland Security said it wanted to arrest him as part of a “targeted enforcement operation.”
Protesters and local officials decried it as an example of the dangers of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
