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Federal judges have found arrests involving the ICE supervisor WIRED places at Marble Hill unlawful

At least one ICE agent fired seven rounds into a car holding a 5-year-old in Marble Hill, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. WIRED names the supervisor on scene as Brenden Cuni and cites federal rulings that found arrests involving him unlawful.

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Photograph accompanying Federal judges have found arrests involving the ICE supervisor WIRED places at Marble Hill unlawful
Photo: nbcnews.com
A 5-year-old in the car, a man shot, feds in charge Who the Marble Hill shooting reaches and how, per NYPD Commissioner Tisch, and what WIRED's review of federal court cases found about Cuni

A 5-year-old boy was in a grey Honda with a 28-year-old man. Oscar Belgal, 28, was shot and taken to a hospital in stable condition. NYPD cameras did not capture the shooting, and federal agencies took over the investigation. Federal judges have found arrests involving Cuni unlawful.

A 5-year-old in the car, a man shot, feds in charge
WhoHowKindClaim
5-year-old boyWas inside the grey Honda with a 28-year-old man at the time of the shooting, Tisch said.exposure2
Oscar Belgal, 28Shot; found handcuffed and seated on the ground, then taken by the NYPD to a hospital in stable condition.exposure11
NYPDIts cameras did not capture the shooting, Tisch said.constraint5
Federal agenciesHave taken over the investigation, Tisch said.decision6
CuniFederal judges have found arrests involving him unlawful; one judge called an arrest warrant he signed fraudulent.precedent13

What happened

  • WIRED matched footage of a man in a yellow construction vest holding a modified AR-15-style rifle to Cuni, a National Fugitive Operations supervisor, using court documents, social posts and public personal information.
  • A law enforcement source told WIRED that Cuni identified himself as an ICE agent to NYPD officers and was the only federal agent on video brandishing a weapon.
  • According to WIRED, one judge called an arrest warrant Cuni signed fraudulent, another said video contradicts his sworn account, and in a third case the government withdrew his sworn statements as inaccurate.
  • The NYPD identified the man who was shot as Oscar Belgal, 28; Tisch said officers found him handcuffed on the ground and took him to a hospital.

Why it matters

  • contradiction DHS said its officers were seeking a criminal illegal alien and that this person was injured, but two law enforcement sources told CBS News that preliminary information indicated the man shot was not the target.
  • constraint The NYPD cameras did not capture the shooting and federal agencies have taken over the investigation, so which agent fired depends on evidence held by the agencies whose officers were there.
  • exposure WIRED's footage match is the link the rest depends on. A wrong match would attach a judicial record to a man who was not on the scene.

NYPD officers who reached the scene near West 225th Street and Marble Hill Avenue on Thursday found men in mixed dress [12]. "When they arrived, they encountered several men in various forms of attire, including some in construction-style vests, face masks and at least one carrying a long gun," Commissioner Jessica Tisch said [9]. Mayor Zohran Mamdani put the neighbor's side of it: "Residents have no idea if these are law enforcement agents or if they are simply attacking someone on the street," he said [10].

WIRED built its identification from records. Cuni's own court declarations give his career: Border Patrol agent in San Diego in 2018, deportation officer in 2020, supervisory detention and deportation officer in December 2024, and the National Fugitive Operations team in May 2025 [16]. Before DHS, the trail is a 2018 Felician University baseball roster that lists his home town as New Rochelle [17]. WIRED says his earlier work history remains unclear [18].

DHS called the incident a "targeted enforcement operation" [3]. Tisch's account of the NYPD camera footage is more specific: a Honda backing into a space, one plainclothes federal officer at the driver's window with his gun drawn, a second at the headlight, and the car then moving forward out of view [4].

The court items in WIRED's file differ in weight. In Minneapolis last December, Cuni led a three-person team at a scene where 60 to 70 people had gathered, and federal prosecutors charged a protester with assaulting Cuni, alleging the man helped tackle him after Cuni pepper-sprayed him [14]. A judge dismissed the charge with prejudice, writing that the evidence was "weak" and that none of the federal officers who reviewed videos of the encounter "saw a 'tackle' or other kind of assault" [15].

The Bronx and Queens items are allegations. Lawyers for a 21-year-old Bronx man claim Cuni tripped him hard enough to break a tooth and then shocked him with a Taser about six times while he was handcuffed [23]. A medical record noted injuries "from taser by ICE agents" [24]. In Queens the following month, another man's petition says agents tackled him and shocked him three times. ICE's arrest report lists Cuni among the arresting officers and acknowledges a Taser, but the filings do not say who fired it [25]. Activists have alleged that Cuni was among the agents who forced a pregnant woman to the ground in Minneapolis, an identification WIRED could not independently confirm [26]. The Bronx arrest was in October, the Queens arrest the next month and the Minneapolis scene in December, three incidents in three consecutive months [19].

Tisch said at least one agent fired on Thursday [1]. The published accounts do not say which agent that was, and none includes a response from Cuni.

For anyone who has to brief a team on Monday, we think two questions sort the file: has a court or the government itself acted on the item, and does a record other than the accuser's say the same thing. A court ruling, such as the Minneapolis dismissal, can be stated flat with the court named. An allegation with a second record behind it, such as the Bronx suit and its medical note, goes in as an allegation with the plaintiff named.

The Queens item sits in between. ICE's arrest report puts Cuni among the arresting officers and confirms a Taser was used, so he can be placed at the arrest, but the shock cannot be assigned to him. An allegation with nothing behind it, such as the pregnant-woman identification, stays out of the briefing until a second record turns up.

What to watch

  • Whether federal investigators or DHS release body camera footage, as Gov. Kathy Hochul asked, since NYPD cameras did not record the shooting.
  • Whether DHS or Cuni responds to the court records WIRED cites, or any agency says which agent fired.
  • Whether the Bronx and Queens filings settle who used the Taser, the one point the Queens papers leave open.

Clarity's read

What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.

Reality

Evidence64
Adoption
Insufficient
Hype gap+15
Incentives
Insufficient
Confidence66

Perspective Coverage

3 publishers
Builder
Builder 10%
Operator
Operator 72%
Investor
Investor 18%
Why these scores

Claim ledger

Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.

  1. [1]

    NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that, based on evidence collected at the scene, at least one ICE agent discharged seven rounds, striking the driver in the neck below his left ear.

    ReportedSupportedSource: NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, as reported by CBS News2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source
  2. [2]

    Tisch said preliminary information indicates a 28-year-old man was inside a grey Honda with a 5-year-old boy at the time of the shooting.

    ReportedSupportedSource: NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, as reported by CBS News2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source
  3. [3]

    DHS described the operation as a "targeted enforcement operation" in which officers were seeking a "criminal illegal alien from the Dominican Republic" with a prior conviction for grand larceny.

    ReportedSupportedSource: Department of Homeland Security statement, as reported by NBC News2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source

Sources

3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.

  1. cbsnews.com

    1 article · October 8, 2026

    Man shot by ICE agent in New York City's Marble Hill, authorities say
  2. nbcnews.com

    1 article · October 8, 2026

    ICE officer shoots man in New York City
  3. wired.com

    1 article · October 8, 2026

    ICE Agent at NYC Shooting Has History of Alleged Violence and Illegal Arrests

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