ICE facility shooting in Dallas highlights increase in attacks on federal officers
Just days before a deadly shooting on Wednesday at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas, the Department of Homeland Security claimed assaults on ICE officers have increased by more than 1,000%. The agency said that it included incidents ranging from violent assaults to publishing agents’ private information online, a practice known as doxxing.
DHS wouldn’t elaborate further on that statistic when Straight Arrow News reached out for comment Thursday.
On Wednesday morning, a suspect opened fire on a federal ICE detention facility in Dallas. One ICE detainee was killed, and two others were wounded. No federal officers were injured.
During a news conference on Thursday, U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson said the suspect, identified as Joshua Jahn, 29, acted alone.
“He wrote that he intended to maximize lethality against ICE personnel and to maximize property damage at the facility,” Larson said. “He hoped to minimize any collateral damage or any injury to the detainees and any other innocent people. It seems that he did not intend to kill the detainees or harm them. It’s clear from these notes that he was targeting ICE agents and ICE personnel.”
Investigators said Jahn was positioned on a roof close to the ICE facility and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Jahn allegedly left a bullet casing with the words “anti-ICE” written on it.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem responded to the shooting on X, writing, “Today’s horrific attack is part of a dangerous pattern. People don’t write anti-ICE messages on ammunition and open fire on law enforcement facilities because they like ICE. This violence is directly fueled by hateful rhetoric. It must end now.”
Democratic leaders react to ICE shooting
Democratic leaders condemned the latest shooting in Dallas, calling it “horrifying” and adding that “political and ideologically-motivated violence in America has reached a breaking point this year.”
“No one in America should be violently targeted, including our men and women in law enforcement who protect and serve our neighborhoods, and the immigrants who are too often the victims of dehumanizing rhetoric,” House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a joint statement.
In a post on X, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin wrote that he was “immensely grateful” to the first responders in the Dallas ICE shooting.
“I’m praying for the victims and their families. This kind of violence has no place in our democracy,” he said.
Series of incidents across the country
The attack comes just a few months after a shooting occurred at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border, on July 7. An armed man, carrying a rifle and wearing tactical gear, opened fire at the facility, DHS said in a press release. Two officers and one Border Patrol employee were wounded.
Just three days prior, a group of people were outside an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, where they made threatening remarks to federal officers, used pepper spray and threw rocks, trash and bricks. Four suspects were arrested; three of them are charged with assaulting a federal officer, according to the DOJ.
That same day, a group of people in Alvarado, Texas, allegedly attacked a federal ICE facility by shooting fireworks and damaging property. They were wearing tactical gear, and authorities believe this was a planned ambush. Ten suspects were arrested and charged with trying to kill a federal officer, according to DHS.
In August, ICE agents were conducting targeted immigration enforcement in San Francisco when a group of rioters confronted and physically attacked four ICE officers near the location. According to DHS, some of the officers were sprayed with pepper spray, and at least one suffered a jammed finger.
DHS points to political rhetoric as root cause
Last week, DHS blamed the increase in assaults on the media, leftist groups and sanctuary cities.
“Following the evil act of political violence in the country this week and two brutal assaults on our brave ICE law enforcement last week, we are once again calling on the media and the far left to stop the hateful rhetoric directed at President Trump, those who support him, and our brave DHS law enforcement,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
