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By Alice Gibbs
Senior Reporter
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One of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents present during the shooting of a 28-year-old man in New York City on Thursday has previously been named in lawsuits and court rulings concerning allegations of excessive force and unlawful arrests.
ICE supervisor Brenden Cuni was visible in photographs and videos from the scene that circulated on social media after Oscar Belgal was taken to the hospital. DHS later said agents were attempting to apprehend a "criminal illegal alien."
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NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that an ICE agent discharged seven rounds during the encounter, striking Belgal in the neck. Video released early Friday by New York police showed officers assisting the wounded man at the scene.
While footage confirms Cuni had been present, it's unclear who fired the shots. Despite this, Cuni's presence has drawn attention because of several recent court cases involving his conduct.
Newsweek has contacted DHS for comment via email.
Who Is Brenden Cuni?
Cuni is a supervisory detention and deportation officer with ICE, according to court filings he signed. In that role, he supervises deportation officers who identify and arrest people alleged to be removable from the United States.
An Instagram page linked to the ICE official includes pictures from hunting trips and of various guns and watches. In May, he shared a picture of a drinking cup with a logo that said "Fugitive Operations NYC." In the background of the photo was a couch that held an array of Tasers. In a March post, Cuni shared a picture of a vest that said "Police Federal Agent" along with an assault rifle and rounds.
Cuni's employment history prior to ICE is not readily available. According to the athletics website for Felician University, a private Catholic university in New Jersey, Cuni played on its baseball team in 2018, and his hometown is listed as New Rochelle, New York.
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Previous Questions Over Conduct
While it remains unclear what role, if any, Cuni played during Thursday's shooting, records show that federal judges and activist groups have questioned his professional conduct a number of times.
According to a petition filed to the U.S. District Court in early 2026, Cuni was present when a 21-year-old man identified as "C.R." was walking home from the Bronx and was stopped by ICE agents.
The petition alleges that Cuni caused C.R. to fall face-first onto the pavement, fell on top of him, handcuffed him before repeatedly using a Taser while he was already on the ground and later referred to him as "maldito Mexicano," meaning "f****** Mexican."
The petition challenged C.R.'s detention and raised allegations of excessive force. ICE said it "does not deny that they tackled and tased C.R." and cited medical records that said C.R. suffered "bilat superficial injuries on legs from Taser by ICE agents." The filing contains allegations and does not represent findings by a court.
In a February habeas petition challenging his detention, a man identified as L.S.M. alleged that federal agents in Corona, Queens, punched him, threw him to the ground and deployed a Taser three times during a November 2025 arrest. The filing identifies Cuni as one of the arresting agents, citing an ICE Form I-213. The filing does not identify which officer deployed the Taser and does not contain findings that the allegations were proved.
In August, Cuni was at the center of another controversy. A federal judge ruled that ICE unlawfully arrested Fernando Fabian Chaglla, finding issue with key parts of a declaration Cuni submitted, including the ICE supervisor's account of the timing of the arrest and warrant process. Judge Brian Cogan wrote that doorbell-camera footage "largely contradicts" the declaration Cuni submitted and found the arrest unlawful.
Most recently, on October 5, Judge Gary Brown ruled that ICE unlawfully arrested Angel Jesus Almonte and described an administrative warrant signed by Cuni as "fraudulent" after finding that database searches had returned negative results before the warrant was issued. Brown wrote that ICE attempted to reconcile those records after the fact.
Activists also identified Cuni as one of the agents visible in a December 2025 video of a Minneapolis ICE operation involving a woman witnesses described as pregnant. Neither ICE nor a court has publicly confirmed that identification.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Shakeema Edwards.
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