One of the ICE officers at the scene of Thursday’s shooting in Upper Manhattan, where agents fired seven rounds into a car with a 5-year-old in the back seat, has been named in multiple lawsuits over violent arrests, and judges have repeatedly questioned his account of arrests, according to Wired.
Wired identified the officer as Brendan Cuni, a supervisor on ICE’s National Fugitive Operations team. Photos from the scene show him in a yellow construction vest carrying an AR-15-style rifle, The New Republic reported. It hasn’t been confirmed publicly which officer fired the shots that hit Oscar Belgal.
Who is Brendan Cuni?
According to Wired’s reporting, as summarized by The New Republic and Newsweek:
- Last October, a Bronx man said Cuni tripped him hard enough to crack a tooth and used a Taser on him six times while he was already handcuffed on the ground.
- In November, Cuni was involved in a Queens arrest in which agents reportedly tackled a man and shocked him with a Taser.
- In December, he was deployed to Minneapolis for Operation Metro Surge. Activists allege he was among officers who forced a pregnant woman to the ground; Wired said it couldn’t confirm that.
- In Minneapolis, prosecutors charged a man with assaulting Cuni, but a judge called the evidence “weak,” and no other agents backed up Cuni’s account.
- In at least three separate cases, judges found problems with his statements or arrest paperwork.
DHS hasn’t publicly responded to the reports about Cuni. Allegations in lawsuits are claims, not findings.
What’s happening with the Marble Hill shooting investigation?
DHS says Belgal refused orders and rammed two government vehicles before an officer fired, and that agents didn’t know his son was in the car. NYPD video shows plainclothes officers running up to the car with guns drawn seconds before it sped off. ICE hasn’t released its own body camera footage. A federal judge has barred Belgal’s deportation while he challenges his detention. New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement on the shooting, and protesters outside the hospital chanted Cuni’s name, The Intercept reported.
The BeezLoop Take
If Wired’s reporting holds up, this is exactly the kind of officer history that should have been flagged long before he was walking a crowded street at school dismissal in a disguise, carrying a rifle. When judges keep finding problems with an officer’s paperwork and statements, that’s a warning sign, not a footnote.
It’s also why DHS can’t be the only one investigating this shooting. An agency that sends officers out masked and dressed as construction workers, with this kind of record, and then holds back its own video, is asking the public to trust it without giving any reason to.
The open question: will DHS say who fired, and release the footage?
Earlier: a judge blocked Belgal’s deportation as DHS gave its account, and the original shooting.
Sources: The New Republic (citing Wired) · Newsweek · The Intercept · New York Attorney General · ABC7 New York (video)
