New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani demanded that a man shot by an ICE officer Thursday be released immediately back onto the streets, according to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who detailed the suspect’s three-year criminal record during the call in which the demand was made.
The shooting happened Thursday in New York City. Within hours, before investigators had released details, Mamdani called ICE “rotten to its core” and called for the agency to be abolished.
That night, Mullin and President Trump held a two-hour phone call with Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul about the shooting. Mullin says Mamdani spent the call pushing to get the suspect freed.
“The mayor wanted him FULLY RELEASED BACK ON THE STREETS,” Mullin said, describing the demand as unreasonable.
“To be frank here, the governor was being somewhat respectful and reasonable. Mamdani was being, or the mayor was being, cordial, but unrealistic. The fact that they wanted to release this individual back on the streets is absurd.”
Mullin said Trump was “cordial and nice” during the call and praised the NYPD as “the finest,” even offering to turn the suspect over to NYPD custody. But he said handing the man back to the street was never on the table.
Mullin laid out the suspect’s record, compiled over the roughly three years he has been in the country:
“Let me explain what he’s on probation for, four robbery charges, two charges of felony assault, felony larceny, assault, weapons assault, weapons possession of misdemeanor larceny, possession of stolen property, and two felony charges of dangerous drugs — all in 3 years, and that’s all that’s how long he’s been in the country.”
The suspect is also linked to a violent gang, according to Mullin.
Mamdani has acknowledged he spent two hours that night “negotiating the release” of the man.
The shooting came days after NYPD Detective Jose Mercedes was stabbed in the Bronx. Police say two illegal aliens attacked Mercedes during an attempted robbery. Mamdani visited Mercedes in the hospital, but he did not mount the kind of public campaign over that attack that he did within hours of Thursday’s ICE shooting.
