Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other leading sanctuary politicians of a glaring double standard, saying they said nothing when an off-duty NYPD detective was stabbed in the Bronx but rushed to condemn federal immigration agents days later in the same borough.
In an interview Sunday on Fox News' "Fox News Sunday" with host Shannon Bream, Mullin pointed to the stabbing of off-duty NYPD Detective Jose Mercedes and the subsequent shooting of Oscar Belgal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Marble Hill section of the Bronx.
"Not one of them said anything," Mullin said, referring to Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Mullin described what he called a striking contrast in how officials responded to the two incidents.
"When an NYPD officer got stabbed, no one did a press conference, no one was outside protesting, no one said a word," Mullin said. "And then when Oscar, an individual who evaded us last month and has an extensive criminal background, they're out there protesting for this guy?"
The @FoxNews account posted a clip of the exchange on Sunday evening, and the @nypost account carried the story the same night, amplifying Mullin's criticism to a wider audience.
Mullin told Bream that all three individuals involved in the two incidents — Belgal and the two men accused of stabbing Mercedes — were from the Dominican Republic and had extensive criminal records.
"All three of these criminals... all from the Dominican Republic, all had extensive criminal records, all should have been deported," Mullin said.
According to the Homeland Security secretary, Belgal accumulated a lengthy list of charges in the three years since he arrived in the United States illegally. Mullin read from what he described as a list of Belgal's felony charges and gang affiliation, including four counts of felony robbery, two counts of felony assault, two felony drug charges and two felony larceny charges, along with misdemeanor assault and weapons possession charges.
Hochul had accused ICE of the "intentional infliction of pain, of chaos, [and] of trying to terrorize neighborhoods" after agents fired into a vehicle containing a five-year-old child during the targeted operation.
Mullin fired back at that characterization, arguing that ICE was in New York to do a job that local officials refuse to do.
"Who is going to get criminals off the streets that you keep releasing?" Mullin asked.
The secretary's comments came after Mamdani also condemned the federal operation. The New York City mayor ripped into Mullin for treating the law "as a suggestion" after the ICE shooting, according to other coverage of the same subject.
The Gateway Pundit, in a report by David Greyson, carried Mullin's Fox News Sunday appearance, while a separate Gateway Pundit report by Jack Davis of The Western Journal detailed Mullin's response to Mamdani. Another outlet reported that Mullin accused Mamdani and Hochul of leaving the Bronx ICE shooting "left to fester" in a scathing rebuke.
The story has been carried across conservative media, with accounts including @nypost and @FoxNews sharing Mullin's remarks as they spread through the national conversation on sanctuary city policies and federal immigration enforcement.
In the transcript of the Fox News video, Mullin's frustration with local officials was evident as he described what he saw as a selective outrage that ignores violence against law enforcement while amplifying criticism of federal agents.
"On the governor, the mayor, all these career sanctuary politicians, not one of them said anything," Mullin said in the video transcript. He pointed to the stabbing of the NYPD officer "in this same neighborhood in the Bronx just last week" and noted that officials "were completely silent."
The secretary also noted that Belgal had evaded federal authorities last month, underscoring what he described as the consequences of sanctuary policies that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents.
Hochul's office did not immediately issue a statement responding to Mullin's criticism, according to the New York Post report.
Next News Network could not independently verify the underlying details of the stabbing of the NYPD detective, the ICE shooting of Oscar Belgal, or the criminal histories attributed to the individuals involved.
The dispute has become the latest flashpoint in the ongoing national debate over federal immigration enforcement in sanctuary jurisdictions, with Mullin serving as the face of the Trump administration's aggressive posture toward cities and states that refuse to cooperate with ICE.
Mullin's appearance on Fox News Sunday represents the latest escalation in a war of words between federal immigration officials and New York's Democratic leadership, a dispute that has been carried by outlets across the conservative media landscape, including The Gateway Pundit, the New York Post and Fox News.
The secretary's remarks also reflect the broader argument being made by the administration that progressive officials are more interested in protecting criminal illegal aliens than in securing the safety of American communities and the law enforcement officers who serve them.
As the story continues to develop, the contrast Mullin drew between the muted response to the stabbing of Detective Mercedes and the vocal protests over the ICE shooting of Belgal has become a central theme in the ongoing national conversation about immigration enforcement and public safety.
Our Take
Markwayne Mullin has put his finger on exactly what is wrong with the sanctuary city mindset that has taken hold in New York and other deep-blue jurisdictions across the country. When an off-duty NYPD detective is stabbed seven times in the Bronx, the silence from Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani is deafening. But let federal immigration agents try to remove a violent criminal who has been preying on the community, and suddenly the press conferences start and the protesters hit the streets. This is not about compassion or justice. It is about a political ideology that puts the interests of criminal illegal aliens ahead of the safety of American citizens and the brave law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day. Mullin's decision to call out this hypocrisy from the national stage is exactly the kind of leadership the American people voted for. The contrast could not be clearer: one side stands with the police, the other side stands with those who would do them harm. New Yorkers deserve better than leaders who only speak up when it serves their political agenda.
