New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said a five-year-old stopped speaking after seeing his father shot during an ICE encounter. The child sat in the back seat when bullets entered the vehicle and struck his father’s neck. Hochul said the boy’s reaction deeply disturbed his mother, who described him as normally outgoing and talkative.
During an MS NOW interview, Hochul recounted a phone conversation with the child’s mother. She said the boy had not spoken since witnessing the shooting. The governor questioned how a five-year-old could process seeing bloodshed inside the vehicle.
Hochul said she wanted to comfort the mother after hearing what her son experienced. “I just want to give her a hug,” she said. She added that the shooting “should never have happened” to the family. Hochul closed her remarks by calling the incident “so un-American.”
Kathy Hochul Faces Backlash Over New York Sanctuary Policies After ICE Shooting
Hochul’s remarks prompted criticism from users who challenged different parts of her account and response to the incident.
One response placed responsibility directly on the boy’s father: “Blame the father who put that child in danger.” Another focused on state policy, writing, “This wouldn’t have happened if not for your corrupt sanctuary state policies.”
A separate user defended federal officers, writing, “This little guy should never have been in that situation and I pray for his safety, but STOP villainizing law enforcement!” Another questioned Hochul’s presentation of the incident: “How does a governor tell the story and leave out the important details? Argumentum ad Misericordiam.”
Others shifted attention to people affected by separate crimes. One asked, “Did you ever speak with the family of the stabbing victim not too long before what happened in the Bronx?” Another questioned the mother’s decision, asking, “Why did she allow her child to go in a car with a violent illegal criminal gang member?”
Responsibility for the encounter remains disputed. The controversy also continues around New York’s sanctuary policies and cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
