On the morning of Sept. 24, a sniper opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) van as it entered a facility in Dallas, TX. Three detained illegal aliens were hit, and two of them died. The shooter, later identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, was found dead on a nearby rooftop shortly after the incident. The cause of death was reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No ICE personnel were hurt. This isn’t the first attack on ICE agents, of course, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to dismiss a link between the left’s demonization of the agency as fascist stormtroopers and the violence perpetrated against them.
A stripper clip containing five rifle rounds was recovered from the rooftop where the deceased suspected shooter was found. At least one of the rounds had “ANTI-ICE” written on it.
For months, left-wing activists have likened ICE agents to Nazis and to Nazi Germany’s secret state police, the Gestapo. Certain elected Democrats have employed similar rhetoric. Earlier this year, Minnesota’s Democrat governor and former vice-presidential candidate, Tim Walz, called Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents a “modern-day Gestapo.”
In July, after ICE agents apprehended an illegal alien MS-13 member in Providence, RI, progressive Democrat Rep. Enrique Sanchez claimed that “Nazi Gestapo ICE thugs” had “kidnapped” one of “our neighbors,” describing the arrest as an “act of terror.”
Left-wing activist sites are awash with articles that draw comparisons between ICE and the Nazis. One such article, published in July on the website Left Voice, is even written in the style of a serious academic piece, making the argument that ICE can indeed be likened to the Gestapo.
So, it’s not correct to assume that loaded language thrown around by Democrat officeholders is solely to blame for the rise in left-wing political violence – whether one is thinking of the attacks on ICE, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, or the two attempts on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s life. There is a whole propaganda machine at work, spreading and inciting hate and violence against the Trump administration.
Little wonder that impressionable and – probably in most cases – mentally unstable young men and women are being conditioned to believe they are up against the forces of tyranny. Such a mind might easily be driven to react violently, even at the cost of their own lives.
On July 4, the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, TX, came under fire during an ambush of ICE agents. An Alvarado police officer who responded to the scene when the defendants began letting off fireworks was shot and killed. Others with the group fired multiple rounds at correction officers who emerged from the facility.
Fifteen people were arrested in connection with the incident. Six of them have since appeared in federal court.
After the Dallas shooting, Texas Republican Rep. Brandon Gill posted on X: “The unprovoked shooting at a Dallas ICE facility this morning was another example of brazen left wing political violence.” He added, “Leftist rhetoric calling ICE agents Nazis and the Gestapo has to end. There is a serious and widespread problem with tolerance for political violence on the Left.”
Back in June, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) observed that the DHS reported a 413% rise in assaults against ICE officers.
There appears to be no intention among left-wing extremists – or elected Democrats, for that matter – to tone down the vitriol. One might have assumed that Charlie Kirk’s murder – as profound an effect as it had on the nation – would have inspired some introspection. On the contrary, it does appear that the extreme left is driving a campaign of growing hostility and violence. Perhaps the goal is to push President Trump to the point where he takes action that his opponents can use against him – claiming that they were right all along to describe him as a dictator and a threat to democracy.
Americans should perhaps hope that, if this is the agenda, Trump doesn’t take the bait – but a robust response to political violence and holding those who incite it accountable are now overdue.