Zohran Mamdani has called US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 'rotten to its core' after an ICE officer shot and wounded 28-year-old Oscar Belgal during an enforcement operation in Marble Hill, New York City, on Thursday, 8 October.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused Mamdani of using dangerous rhetoric, while federal officials said officers opened fire after Belgal allegedly drove his vehicle towards them. The circumstances of the shooting remain under scrutiny.

For context, the shooting happened at about 4pm near Marble Hill Avenue and West 225th Street, an area on the border of Manhattan and the Bronx.

New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Belgal was in a vehicle with a five-year-old boy, believed to be his son, when an ICE officer fired seven rounds. Belgal was struck in the neck and taken to hospital. The child was unharmed and was placed with a relative, according to officials.

Speaking at a late-night press conference near the scene, Mamdani said he had spent about two hours on the phone with President Donald Trump and Mullin. He said his efforts to secure Belgal's release were unsuccessful. He also urged the administration to halt ICE enforcement operations in New York City.

Mamdani said federal authorities removed Belgal from hospital late on Thursday and took him into ICE custody. He described the shooting as 'an outrage' and said ICE 'operates with impunity', arguing that its enforcement actions were making New York City less safe.

The mayor went further, calling for ICE to be abolished. He also questioned why federal officers had fired so many shots into a vehicle containing a young child.

'There is no explanation for federal officers firing this many rounds into a car that has a five-year-old in the car,' Mamdani said, according to remarks reported by NBC News.

His criticism was not subtle. Calling a federal agency 'rotten to its core' while simultaneously negotiating with the president and the department that oversees it leaves little room for diplomatic ambiguity.

Mullin rejected Mamdani's account on Friday, accusing the mayor of using 'political theatre' after the shooting of a man federal officials said was in the United States unlawfully. He alleged that Mamdani's remarks risked inciting hostility towards federal officers.

'The mayor speaks with political tone. His words are dangerous and incite hostility. It doesn't help,' Mullin said at a press conference.

The homeland security secretary said ICE agents had not known the child was in the vehicle. He claimed Belgal was aware officers were present and chose to evade them. Mullin also disputed Mamdani's description of Belgal as a 'New Yorker'.

'Are you really going to label a New Yorker? That's a significant stretch,' Mullin said, before turning to Mamdani's criticism of the agency. 'He claims that ICE is corrupt to its core. Really? When the men and women of ICE are diligently enforcing the laws that he chooses not to uphold.'

Mullin argued that the mayor had refused to support NYPD officers while ignoring people detained by ICE. 'We detain thousands of criminals weekly, and he turns a blind eye to this, refusing to support his own NYPD officers who protect him daily,' he said.

The Department of Homeland Security said the operation targeted Belgal, a Dominican national with a prior conviction for grand larceny and a history of arrests. Federal officials have also described him as having alleged gang connections.

DHS officials said Belgal accelerated his vehicle into two government vehicles and towards officers, prompting them to fire. The NYPD's account, as described by Tisch, says an officer approached Belgal's vehicle with a gun drawn before the car moved forward and officers fired seven rounds.

Those accounts do not agree on every material detail. What is clear is that Belgal was shot, that a child was in the car, and that the justification for the use of force has not been independently established.

The incident has intensified the political dispute over immigration enforcement in New York City. Governor Kathy Hochul said she spoke with Trump and Mullin on Thursday evening and urged them to halt ICE operations in New York State.

Belgal remained in ICE custody after being taken from hospital, according to Mamdani. The mayor said his request that agents leave the scene entirely, and that ICE stop enforcement actions in New York City, was rejected.

Mullin made clear that federal operations would continue. 'Our duty is to uphold the nation's laws and target the most dangerous offenders, and our personnel perform exceptionally well at this every single day, and we will continue to fulfil our responsibilities,' he said.

Mamdani has turned the shooting into a direct challenge to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Mullin, meanwhile, has framed the dispute as a question of whether the mayor supports the enforcement of federal law and the NYPD officers who protect the city.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting, including the officers' reasons for opening fire and whether their use of force was justified, remain unresolved.