New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on President Donald Trump to suspend all Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in New York after an ICE agent shot and wounded an illegal immigrant in the Bronx on Thursday, triggering protests and clashes with police.
Speaking at a late-night news conference, Mamdani denounced the shooting and said he had spoken with Trump for roughly two hours after the incident.
The mayor said he asked Trump to release the wounded man, but that request was denied. Mamdani also reiterated the city’s demand that ICE agents leave New York.
“All they do is terrorize this city,” Mamdani said of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference after an ICE-involved shooting on Thursday. (WNYW)
Mamdani accused ICE of operating “with impunity” and said the agency was fueling “chaos and terror” nationwide. He further alleged that ICE had killed more people than it had saved.
“Today’s shooting is only further devastating confirmation of what we have long known,” the mayor said.
“ICE is rotten to its core,” he added.
Mamdani also confirmed that ICE agents had removed the wounded man from the hospital.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she, too, had spoken with Trump as well as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
“Tonight, I spoke with President Trump and DHS Secretary Mullin about the shooting in Marble Hill,” Hochul wrote on X. “I expressed outrage on behalf of New Yorkers and urged them to halt ICE enforcement operations in New York. I also asked that any body camera footage of the shooting be released to the public so we can establish the facts and get to the truth.”
Protesters and law enforcement officers clash after a man was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in New York on October 8, 2026. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)
According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE agents were trying to arrest a wanted man from the Dominican Republic at about 4 p.m. Thursday when one agent opened fire, striking and wounding him. DHS did not say what prompted the shooting.
“ICE officers immediately rendered aid. The individual is alive and at a local hospital. The FBI and HSI are on the scene. The incident remains under investigation. More information will be shared as it becomes available,” DHS said in a statement.
DHS described the wounded man as an illegal immigrant with a prior grand larceny conviction and arrests connected to assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons possession. The agency also claimed he had links to the Trinitarios gang.
Later Thursday, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the man was 28 years old. She also said a 5-year-old boy believed to be his son was inside the vehicle when the shooting occurred.
“Based on evidence collected at the scene, we know that at least one ICE agent discharged the seven rounds, striking the driver in the neck below his left ear,” Tisch said. The child was not hurt and was placed in the care of a family member, she added.
Protesters and law enforcement officers shove one another near where a man was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in New York on October 8, 2026. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)
The agency said New York City police arrested the man on Dec. 7, 2023, but released him days later. DHS attributed that release to New York City’s sanctuary policies.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where the wounded man was receiving treatment. Demonstrators chanted “ICE off our streets” and “No justice, no peace.” As police put up barricades, officers and protesters shoved one another, and some demonstrators threw water bottles at law enforcement.
“From Palestine to Mexico, all these walls have got to go,” the group chanted.
Police made some arrests during the demonstration.