Since Wednesday’s deadly attack on a Dallas, Texas Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) facility by an anti-ICE loon, ABC, CBS, and NBC followed an identical pattern from their coverage of Charlie Kirk’s assassination by cowardly refusing to tie the incendiary rhetoric from their own side about the Trump administration and its supporters to crazies taking matters into their own hands.

Between Thursday night and Friday morning, the three shared all the damaging facts about the shooter’s rhetoric and hatred for ICE, but made no attempt to tell viewers this echoed public statements from elected officials, pundits, and....journalists themselves.

Thursday’s NBC Nightly News followed up the lunacy from hours earlier with a toned-down version (but nonetheless missing the point).

Although anchor Tom Llamas tried to both-sides the fallout, he was the only person on any of the three networks to mention the suspect’s internet searches for video of Kirk’s murder:

Correspondent Priscilla Thompson reported “investigators revealing disturbing new details about a gunman they say was fixated on kill ICE agents and had been planning his attack on a Dallas ICE facility for months” and made sure to point out the note about wanting to inflict “real terror.”

Thompson engaged in some both-sides-ing of her own (click “expand”):

THOMPSON: In addition to writing “anti-ICE” on his bullets, the FBI says the gunman downloaded DHS facilities, searched apps that tracked ICE agents and conducted multiple searches for the “Charlie Kirk shot video” before investigators say he got on to a roof across from the ICE office and started firing indiscriminately, hitting a van with detainees inside, killing one. A man in the same Boy Scout troop with the suspect as a teen described a conversation about migrant caravans in recent years. “He was upset how people were not understanding people’s desperation to get out of bad situations,” the scout member, who asked not to be named, told NBC News. President Trump’s border czar blaming Democrats fierce criticism of ICE.

TOM HOMAN [on FNC’s The Faulkner Focus, 09/25/25]: Someone who ran for president of the United States comparing ICE to Nazis, that gives some of these nuts — it emboldens them to take action.

HOUSE MINORITY LEADER HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY); We need leadership coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to take the temperature down fore everybody.

Thompson was back on Friday’s Today to declared “the clearest indication of a motive that they have come from the shooter’s own words” a full day after she said the “motive remains unclear.”

Partnered with sound of FBI Special Agent in Charge Joe Rothrock and Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy Larson saying the suspect “intended to kill ICE employees” and “terrorize ICE employees,” Thompson acknowledged he “also used apps to track the location of ICE agents.”

Gee, where have we heard about those before? Oh, let’s go with CBS, CNN, Reuters, and....NBC to name a few.

Thompson implicitly tried to argue there was no connection to leftist ideology, misleadingly using an exchange she had at a press conference (click “expand”):

THOMPSON: Authorities have not shown evidence the shooter was affiliated with any specific group. [TO ROTHROCK] Was there anything in terms of an inciting incident that led him to commit this attack?

ROTHROCK: In this case, the clearest indication of motivation are his own words. He wanted to cause terror.

THOMPSON: But President trump blaming Democrats for the violence.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The radical left Democrats are causing this problem and it gets worse. It gets worse.

JEFFRIES: We need leadership coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to take the temperature down for everybody.

Dallas-based correspondent Mireya Villarreal again was the mic from Dallas for Thursday’s World News Tonight. She focused on “video first obtained by ABC News” of the facility as the bullets hailed down.

As for the motive, she promoted the claim about “hatred for the federal government” (click “expand”):

LARSON: He hoped his actions would terrorize ICE employees and interfere with their work, which he called human trafficking and this, what he did, is the very definition of terrorism.

VILLARREAL: Officials identifying the suspect at 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, saying they found handwritten notes in his home expressing hatred for the federal government and revealing a high degree of pre-attack planning.

(....)

VILLARREAL: FBI Director Kash Patel today saying one of the notes read, “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror to think, ‘is there a sniper with ap rounds on that roof?’” Investigators believe the suspect acted alone, seen on surveillance video driving with a large ladder on his car around 3:00 a.m.

LARSON: We believe that that is what he used to position himself on top of the building.

VILLARREAL: The investigation revealing the suspect opened fire three hours later, using an eight-millimeter bolt action rifle he legally purchased in August. The FBI releasing a picture of some of the ammunition found. One bullet reading ‘anti-ICE.” Officials say the suspect used ICE trafficking apps to pinpoint agents’ locations.

She then concluded with smidgen of spin:

Like she did from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, Villarreal offered a pivot of sorts on Friday’s Good Morning America and dialed things back.

She mostly focused on said video footage of the chaos as the shooting unfolded with soundbites of Larson highlighting the gunman’s belief ICE engages in “human trafficking” and wanted to give them “real terror.”

But, once again, no connection between the left’s rhetoric about ICE agents and said violence.

It was the same story over on CBS. Thursday’s CBS Evening News launched with co-anchor Maurice DuBois making this observation:

Correspondent Omar Villafranca made reference to “chilling details of how he felt about ICE agents,” noting the level of planning and ran sound of Larson stating the suspect believed ICE personnel were “people showing up to collect a dirty paycheck” and Rothrock invoking the “cause terror” line.

Villafranca’s story was condensed but nonetheless much the same on Friday’s CBS Mornings, but made the addition of the footage ABC had the night prior.

To see the relevant transcripts from September 25, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC). To see the relevant transcripts from September 26, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).