Brennan Focused on the Child in the Vehicle
During CBS’s Face the Nation, DHS Chief Markwayne Mullin challenged Margaret Brennan over the ICE operation in the Bronx. Brennan asked, “How come those officers didn’t notice that a child was put in that car?” Her question placed the focus on the officers’ awareness of the child. Mullin’s response placed it on the adult who had the child in the vehicle and then, according to the account presented, drove toward ICE officers. That framing placed responsibility on the agents rather than on the driver’s decision. The five-year-old was in the car when the ICE-involved shooting happened.
Mullin Pointed to the Driver
Mullin did not accept that framing. “You know who did know the kid was in the vehicle? Oscar!” he said. Mullin, a father of six, added that he would never put his children in danger and would have gotten out of the vehicle to protect his child. He said Belgal was selfish enough to put his child at risk and chose to accelerate toward officers. Mullin’s point was direct: the presence of a child did not erase the driver’s responsibility for what happened next. In his view, the key question was not simply whether officers saw the child, but why the child was in a vehicle moving toward them in the first place.
What DHS Said About the Operation
DHS said that on October 8 at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET, ICE officers were conducting a targeted enforcement operation in the Bronx to arrest Oscar Belgal, whom the department described as a “criminal illegal alien” from the Dominican Republic. DHS said Belgal had a prior conviction for grand larceny and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession, and weapons possession. The department also said he had associations with the Trinitarios gang, which it identified as the same gang that brutally shot a CBP officer last year.
The Child Was in the Vehicle
The report says Belgal accelerated his vehicle and rammed two vehicles before targeting officers. An ICE agent then shot and wounded him, and his five-year-old child was in the car. Those details explain why Mullin rejected Brennan’s question as the central issue. Brennan asked why officers did not notice the child, while Mullin argued that Belgal knew where his child was and still drove toward the officers. Mullin’s argument centered on who created the danger by moving the vehicle toward the officers.
Protests Followed in the Bronx
Protests erupted in the Bronx on Thursday evening after the officer-involved shooting. Video posted to social media showed anti-ICE activists blocking federal vehicles and confronting ICE agents. DHS also said the NYPD arrested Belgal on December 7, 2023, but he was released into the community a few days later. The department attributed that release to what it called “reckless Democrat sanctuary policies” and said those policies put American lives at risk. The protests and the CBS exchange brought renewed attention to the shooting, the vehicle’s movements, and the child inside it.
View the social-media video on X.
BREAKING: Anti-ICE protesters block Federal Vehicles and Confront ICE agents after ICE reportedly shot a person in the Bronx during Detainement.
Video by @yyeeaahhhboiii2 | Licensing @FreedomNTV [email protected] pic.twitter.com/rFehidI4s2
— FreedomNews.Tv FNTV (@FreedomNTV) October 8, 2026
