The legal team for Oscar Belgal, a man shot by federal immigration agents in New York, has given an account of the encounter that sharply contrasts with the official version from the Department of Homeland Security.
Belgal's lawyers said this week that the agent who shot him never identified himself before running up to the vehicle, smashing one of its windows and firing several shots into the car.
DHS officials have said officers opened fire only after Belgal drove his car into two government vehicles and accelerated toward other officers. The two accounts differ on the central question of what happened in the moments before the shooting.
The case is drawing scrutiny as federal immigration enforcement operations face wider legal and political challenges, including a new Government Accountability Office report on body-camera use by immigration officers.
