Federal and local authorities are still working to determine a motive after a gunman opened fire on an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas on Wednesday.
One detainee was killed and two others were critically injured in the incident. The suspected shooter, identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The gunman, according to authorities, positioned himself on a rooftop near the ICE field office, not far from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. He fired on the sally port as officials were loading a van with detainees. No officers or staff were injured.
At least one unused bullet recovered by federal investigators was allegedly inscribed with the words “ANTI-ICE.”
FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday said the initial probe points to an “ideological motive,” but acknowledged that the investigation is ongoing.
“These despicable, politically motivated attacks against law enforcement are not a one-off. We are only miles from Prairieland, Texas, where just two months ago an individual ambushed a separate ICE facility targeting their officers,” he wrote on social platform X. “It has to end and the FBI and our partners will lead these investigative efforts to see to it that those who target our law enforcement are pursued and brought to the fullest extent of justice.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quickly condemned the violence as “targeted” in a statement and pressed the public to tone down its rhetoric against the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
“For months, we’ve been warning politicians and the media to tone down their rhetoric about ICE law enforcement before someone was killed,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a social media post. “These horrendous killings must serve as a wake-up call to the far-left that their rhetoric about ICE has consequences.”
The incident led the department to “immediately” beef up its security at ICE facilities around the nation, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Hill’s sister network NewsNation. She added that immigration enforcement officers are now facing a “more than 1,000 percent increase” in assaults and threats.
Politicians and commentators were quick to point fingers across the aisle, debating whether the left or right is more to blame for a perceived rise in political violence. The shooting comes just two weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah.
President Trump directed his ire at Democrats in a Truth Social post, arguing the left has fueled hostility toward ICE and other law enforcement agencies.
“The Brave Men and Women of ICE are just trying to do their jobs, and remove the ‘WORST of the WORST’ Criminals out of our Country, but they are facing an unprecedented increase in threats, violence, and attacks by Deranged Radical Leftists.” he wrote.
“This violence is the result of the Radical Left Democrats constantly demonizing Law Enforcement, calling for ICE to be demolished, and comparing ICE Officers to “Nazis,” he added. “The continuing violence from Radical Left Terrorists, in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, must be stopped.”
Vice President Vance, in an interview with Nexstar’s Reshad Hudson, echoed the president’s comments, saying he’s “pretty confident” the shooting was a “left-wing political attack.”
“I think [it] goes to show that we have way too much of this in our country, especially the last couple weeks,” he added. “I think we all need to tone down the temperature a little bit.”
Democrats have pushed back on the comments, accusing the vice president and others of hand-picking information to share in order to “control the narrative.”
“Leave it to this administration to use a shooting against immigrant detainees to score political points and further provoke violence,” Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) wrote on X. “We have to get guns off our streets and reject xenophobic and anti-immigrant sentiment that makes all of us less safe.”
Authorities have not released much in the Dallas shooting, but court records show the suspected shooter pleaded guilty in 2016 to felony charges of marijuana delivery in Texas, The Associated Press reported. He served five years of probation.
