Two people are dead after a shooter whose bullet casings reportedly had “anti-ICE messages” on them targeted an ICE facility in Dallas, Texas. Just hours earlier, California Gov. Gavin Newsom described immigration enforcement as “authoritarian” and suggested people would “push back” in an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
At least two individuals were killed with a third injured after a gunman opened fire on an ICE transportation vehicle in Dallas early Wednesday morning. Investigators announced that rounds found near the shooter — who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound — were inscribed with anti-ICE messaging. Notably, there was a bomb threat at the same facility last month, according to DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin.
Officials blamed increasingly inflammatory rhetoric directed toward ICE and law enforcement for the shooting.
Acting field office director for ICE Dallas Joshua Johnson said: “This is the second time I have had to stand in front of you and talk about a shooter at one of my facilities. And I think that the takeaway from all of this is that the rhetoric has to stop. There are people out there who are seeing what is being placed online, and they’re coming and they’re doing acts of violence against ICE employees. So that’s kind of all I have for today is that it’s just got to stop. It’s dangerous. And people are losing their lives.”
Sen. Ted Cruz issued a similar statement, saying: “To every politician who is using rhetoric demonizing ICE and demonizing CBP, stop. To every politician demanding that ICE agents be doxed and calling for people to go after their families, stop. This has very real consequences.”
Those warnings point to the kind of rhetoric that has been circulating in the hours and months before the attack.
While on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday evening, Newsom criticized “Masked men, jumping out of unmarked cars, people disappearing, no due process, no oversight, zero accountability.”
“People ask: ‘Well, is “authoritarianism” here being hyperbolic?’ Bullsh-t, we’re being hyperbolic. If you’re a black and brown community, [authoritarianism is] here, in this country,” he said, adding that people would “push back” against the “authoritarian actions.”
This rhetoric is similar to that shared by other members of the Democrat Party.
Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries alleged ICE agents were engaging in “aggressive overreach” and that they should be doxed.
“This is not the 1930s, and every single one of them, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, will, of course, be identified,” Jeffries said.
Failed vice presidential candidate Tim Walz referred to ICE agents as “modern-day Gestapo.”
“They’re in unmarked vans, wearing masks, being shipped off to foreign torture dungeons, no chance to mount a defense, not even a chance to kiss a loved one goodbye, just grabbed up by masked agents, shoved into those vans, and disappeared,” Walz said.
Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal accused ICE of “acting like a terrorist force,” claiming people “are being kidnapped and disappeared off the street by masked men.”
Florida Democrat Rep. Maxwell Frost told ICE agents to “quit now” if they had “any decency.”
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2