Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / DHS Secretary defends ICE tactics after violent incidents in NYC & TX

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DHS Secretary defends ICE tactics after violent incidents in NYC & TX · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let's start by showing our viewers this NYPD video of
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the shooting. You can see Oscar Belgal in a parking spot.
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  Speaker 1: A plainclothes officer approaches the driver's side window with his
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  Speaker 1: gun drawn. Another plainclothes officer approaches by the driver's side headlight.
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  Speaker 1: Belgal then appears to try to reverse and try to
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  Speaker 1: drive away. One of the officers is banging on his
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  Speaker 1: window with a gun. So I understand that Oscar Belgal
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  Speaker 1: is in the country illegally, and he has a criminal record,
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  Speaker 1: including grand larceny. I guess the question I have is,
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  Speaker 1: do you see how for anyone, a bunch of men
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  Speaker 1: not clearly identified as with the government, as with ICE,
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  Speaker 1: banging on windows with a gun might cause anyone to flee?
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  Speaker 1: And I wonder, would it not be safer for the
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  Speaker 1: officers if they were clearly identified as with ICE?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Jake, what you're not understanding is the full gravity
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  Speaker 2: of the situation. Oscar had already fleed once before just
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  Speaker 2: a month ago. He knew that officers were looking for him.
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  Speaker 2: He understood that he was a wanted man. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: think about the guy's record. I'll read it here to you.
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  Speaker 2: He's got four charges of felony robbery, two charges of
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  Speaker 2: felony assault, felony larceny, misdemeanor assault, weapons possession, misdemeanor larceny,
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  Speaker 2: possession of stolen property, two felony charges for dangerous drugs,
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  Speaker 2: and a strong gang affiliation, which.
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  Speaker 3: He has also wanted.
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  Speaker 2: For possibly direct or indirect information on a CBP officer
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  Speaker 2: that was killed by his gang last year. This guy
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  Speaker 2: we knew was dangerous. We knew he was probably armed.
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  Speaker 2: He had fled from us before. We had taken every
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  Speaker 2: precaution possible to take, and for us to approach his vehicle,
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  Speaker 2: we approached it and it was giving lawful commands. What
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  Speaker 2: you're not hearing is the actual audio, too. He knew
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  Speaker 2: exactly who we were, He decided to flee once again
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  Speaker 2: like he had done before. And so when someone tries
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  Speaker 2: to flee from us, they're making their decisions at that time.
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  Speaker 3: The truth is this guy was an awful human being.
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  Speaker 3: He was a thug. He was a gangbanger.
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  Speaker 2: And he had only been in the country for three
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  Speaker 2: years and he had this long of a rap sheet
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  Speaker 2: and had been released multiple times by New York State.
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  Speaker 3: At the same time, he was on probation.
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  Speaker 2: So you couldn't have got a worse of a worse
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  Speaker 2: thug than Oscar is. And why is the media so
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  Speaker 2: outraged by this? It doesn't make any sense because, Jake,
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  Speaker 2: remember the week before, an NYPD officer in the Bronx,
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  Speaker 2: same area that this was at, was stabbed by two thugs, too,
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  Speaker 2: with extensive rap sheets that was released by New York
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  Speaker 2: back on the streets. They were also from the Dominican Republic,
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  Speaker 2: and not one person covered that.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think the media covered it.
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  Speaker 2: I know the mayor didn't go out and give some
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  Speaker 2: press conference about it.
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  Speaker 3: If anybody's going.
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  Speaker 2: To be outraged, they should be outraged that these criminals
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  Speaker 2: are still running the streets when they should have been
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  Speaker 2: detained because we put detainers on them and asked the
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  Speaker 2: state of New York to give them to us and
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  Speaker 2: let us ship them back out. So all three of
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  Speaker 2: these thugs, Oscar and the two individuals that stabbed the
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  Speaker 2: NYPD officer, All three of those individuals should have been
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: deported years ago. But, of course, the state of New
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  Speaker 2: York is a sanctuary state, and this is the kind
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  Speaker 2: of criminals that are running wild.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'm just asking about the tactics.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not defending the character of any of these gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: because obviously one of the reasons this has gotten so
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  Speaker 1: much attention is that Oscar Belgal's five-year-old son was in
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  Speaker 1: the backseat of the car.
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  Speaker 3: Now, you have said that the agents.
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  Speaker 1: Were not aware that there was this child in the
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  Speaker 1: backseat of the car. But I wonder also about, in
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  Speaker 1: terms of tactics, shouldn't agents be checking for things like
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  Speaker 1: that before they fire into the vehicle?
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  Speaker 3: Thankfully, the kid's fine.
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  Speaker 1: But if this was a targeted operation, they were surveilling Mr.
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  Speaker 3: Belgall.
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  Speaker 1: Are you 100% sure that the tactics being used don't
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  Speaker 1: need to change in any way here?
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  Speaker 3: Well, let's be clear about this, too. Do you know
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  Speaker 3: who knew the five-year-old was in the car? Sure, Oscar Belgall.
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  Speaker 3: If I'm a father, which I am a father of six.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm going to do everything I can to protect
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  Speaker 2: my child. I promise you I would have been obeying
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  Speaker 2: the lawful commands that were given. The last thing I
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  Speaker 2: would have done is put my son or one of my.
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  Speaker 3: Kids in danger.
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  Speaker 2: He chose to accelerate at a rated speed, hit the
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  Speaker 2: vehicle in front, flare off, and accelerate towards officers into
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  Speaker 2: another vehicle. He was a selfish individual. Why would you
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  Speaker 2: ever put your child into.
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  Speaker 3: Situations like that? Again, I'm not defending him.
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  Speaker 2: You want to talk about undercover police officers. I know,
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  Speaker 2: but let's talk about undercover police officers. Every single department,
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  Speaker 2: I don't care if it's state, if it's local, if
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  Speaker 2: it's county, or if it's federal, They all have undercover divisions,
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  Speaker 2: and undercover divisions make arrests every single day in plainclothes.
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  Speaker 2: When they approach the vehicle, they have their badges out.
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  Speaker 2: You can see that their badge was out, and they
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  Speaker 2: were given lawful commands. So the tactics that are used
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  Speaker 2: are the same tactics that are used by law enforcement
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  Speaker 2: from coast to coast, from local, city, state to federal.
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  Speaker 3: So let me just ask you another thing.
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  Speaker 1: We've seen a bunch of these incidents where agents go
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  Speaker 1: after someone who is behind the wheel of a car,
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  Speaker 1: and sometimes... it ends with the target winding up dead,
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  Speaker 1: including two incidents like this since you've become secretary, a Venezuelan.
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  Speaker 3: Man in Texas, a Dominican man in Maine in July.
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  Speaker 1: Tactically, should DHS institute practices where officers are, it's suggested
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  Speaker 1: that they wait for someone to get out of the
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  Speaker 1: car before going after them so that the car cannot
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  Speaker 1: be weaponized?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the problem that you continue to have is individuals
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  Speaker 2: like this are going to flee. Every time we approach someone,
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  Speaker 2: it's fight or flight, 100% of the time, because when ICE, ERO, HSI, CBP,
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  Speaker 2: when we're approaching a vehicle, this individual knows they're going
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  Speaker 2: to jail.
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  Speaker 3: Now, you want to talk about the two individuals that
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  Speaker 3: have been shot since I've been secretary.
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  Speaker 2: Let's think about the 258 illegals that are in New
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  Speaker 2: York City right now that are wanted for murder. Let's
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  Speaker 2: talk about the 258 that are currently in state prison
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  Speaker 2: that killed individuals that were illegals that we got detainers
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  Speaker 2: on All 258 of those individuals took an American life
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  Speaker 2: and all 258 deaths were 100% preventable because those illegals
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  Speaker 2: shouldn't be here. Now, if people are really concerned about
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  Speaker 2: the tactics that are being used, how about the state
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  Speaker 2: cooperates with us?
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  Speaker 3: These individuals that I've talked about have.
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  Speaker 2: Detainers on them. Oscar had a detainer on him. The
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  Speaker 2: two individuals that stabbed the New York PD officer, one
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  Speaker 2: of them had a detainer on him. That means they
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  Speaker 2: were locked up before. We asked the state, we asked
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  Speaker 2: the city to give them to us, and they released
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  Speaker 2: them back on the streets. If anybody should be at outrage,
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  Speaker 2: it should be the public to the sanctuary states and
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  Speaker 2: sanctuary politicians that continue to release these murderers and thugs
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  Speaker 2: back on the streets and put the American people at danger.
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  Speaker 1: So you said ICE agents were wearing body cameras during
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  Speaker 1: the encounter. The NYPD has already released its body cam footage. Yes.
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  Speaker 1: Is the ICE agent's body cam footage gonna be released
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  Speaker 1: to the public as well? And if so, when?
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure it will be. Right now, FBI and HSI
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  Speaker 2: are doing the investigation. So as it develops and we
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  Speaker 2: get all the information out correctly, we'll release information at
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  Speaker 2: due time. One thing that we have learned for sure
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  Speaker 2: is that we never wanna get ahead of the investigation.
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  Speaker 2: That's even with me and the speech or the conversations
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  Speaker 2: that I have about it. I wanna be very clear
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  Speaker 2: that the investigation will go through. And when we find
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  Speaker 2: it and we complete the investigation, we'll be very, very
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  Speaker 2: transparent with the public.
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  Speaker 5: ICE tactics under more scrutiny after violent encounters in New
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  Speaker 5: York and Houston. Lawyers for 28-year-old Oscar Belgal say he's
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  Speaker 5: in solitary confinement with a bullet still lodged inside his neck.
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  Speaker 5: ICE agents shot the Dominican man as he was driving
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  Speaker 5: with his five-year-old son in the back seat. The New
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  Speaker 5: York City mayor, Zoran Mamdani, has repeatedly condemned the ICE agency,
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  Speaker 5: calling for it to be dismantled. Listen.
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  Speaker 6: We are talking about a federal agency that shot at
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  Speaker 6: a moving vehicle in broad daylight while its agents were
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  Speaker 6: wearing construction vests, using long guns, and left New Yorkers
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  Speaker 6: in terror. What New Yorkers want to see is an
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  Speaker 6: end to ICE operations across our city. That is something
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  Speaker 6: that I made clear directly to the president. That is
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  Speaker 6: something I made clear directly to the secretary.
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  Speaker 5: All right, let's go live right now to CNN correspondent
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  Speaker 5: Priscilla Alvarez. She's been working the story. She's got new details.
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  Speaker 5: What else are you learning from his attorneys, for example, Priscilla?
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  Speaker 4: Well, if we are learning more about the condition of
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  Speaker 4: Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican national who was the target
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  Speaker 4: of this operation that you referenced and that the mayor
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  Speaker 4: referenced there. So let me read you the statement from
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  Speaker 4: the attorney. It says, while he is currently in solitary confinement,
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  Speaker 4: a bullet remains lodged in his neck. The left side
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  Speaker 4: of his face is numb and he can barely hear
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  Speaker 4: out of his left ear. Doctors have told him he
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  Speaker 4: urgently needs surgery, but that the procedure was too dangerous
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  Speaker 4: to perform Thursday evening without a specialized surgeon present. Although
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  Speaker 4: he was instructed to return to the hospital this week,
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  Speaker 4: he has been left in the dark about whether that
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  Speaker 4: surgery will even happen. He is also suffering from a
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  Speaker 4: shoulder wound caused by shattered glass during the incident. Now,
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  Speaker 4: his attorneys have filed a habeas claim. They are trying
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  Speaker 4: to get him released from detention. That is still ongoing,
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  Speaker 4: though the federal judge in that case did say that
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  Speaker 4: he has to remain in the country while all of
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  Speaker 4: this unfolds. And there really is a lot still unfolding here.
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  Speaker 4: The Department of Homeland Security is conducting its investigation into
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  Speaker 4: this incident along with the FBI. We do know from
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  Speaker 4: what the secretary has said that this was an individual
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  Speaker 4: who was targeted before last September because he has ties
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  Speaker 4: to a gang and he has a criminal history. And
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  Speaker 4: this was another attempt to arrest him that we saw
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  Speaker 4: play out last week. Although, of course, this time he
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  Speaker 4: did have his five-year-old child in the car, which agents
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  Speaker 4: did not know at the time. That is according to
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  Speaker 4: to the secretary. Of course, there are still questions as
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  Speaker 4: to all of the circumstances leading around it, including whether
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  Speaker 4: they are going to release body camera footage of those moments.
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  Speaker 4: And overall, the department continues to defend its tactics, including
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  Speaker 4: last Thursday when they discharged their weapon on this Dominican national.
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  Speaker 5: And Priscilla, there was another ICE encounter in Texas on
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  Speaker 5: Saturday when officials say a man was hit by a
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  Speaker 5: vehicle driven by ICE officers during an enforcement operation. What
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  Speaker 5: more can you tell us about what happened?
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  Speaker 4: Well, as you said, Wolf, this was, again, another operation,
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  Speaker 4: a targeted operation, according to ICE. There was one individual
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  Speaker 4: specifically that they were targeting in this, but there were
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  Speaker 4: two people in the vehicle. Both of them fled the scene.
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  Speaker 4: One of them, the target of the operation, remains missing. Well,
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  Speaker 4: the other was struck by a vehicle driven by ICE agents. Now,
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  Speaker 4: ICE has said that they rendered aid on the scene
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  Speaker 4: and that he ran in front of the vehicle. You're
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  Speaker 4: seeing some of the video right there on your screen.
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  Speaker 4: This is another incident that's going to be under investigation
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  Speaker 4: that includes the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which will be
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  Speaker 4: looking into this. But the condition of the man, Miguel
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  Speaker 4: Parra Hernandez, a Mexican national, is he has two broken
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  Speaker 4: legs and he was scheduled to undergo surgery. So this
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  Speaker 4: is another incident that came on the heels of what
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: happened in New York, as well as many other incidents
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  Speaker 4: that have transpired this year where there will be an
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  Speaker 4: investigation unfolding where we're still trying to get answers. and
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  Speaker 4: our questions about what exactly unfolded in all of these moments. Because, Wolf,
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: as you know, we often get bits and pieces of
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: these videos, but not all of the sequence of events.
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  Speaker 5: Priscilla Alvarez, a lot going on. Thank you very, very much.