(The Center Square) — Federal authorities say they are investigating an upstate New York woman who allegedly wanted to buy firearms to “kill” ICE agents.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it is conducting an investigation into a “female U.S. citizen” who attempted to purchase a firearm in Buffalo on two separate occasions and stated she wanted to “buy a gun to protect herself from ICE agents, and also to kill ICE agents.”
The agency didn’t provide additional details about the investigation or identify the woman, but said the joint investigation is being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations and the New York State Police.
“Every day there are more assaults, more vehicle-ramming attacks, more attempts to kill our officers,” Assistant Homeland Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Now, we have an American citizen purchasing a gun with the intent to KILL our officers.”
As the Trump administration moves to aggressively enforce immigration laws, protests have erupted in U.S. cities across the country over ICE’s tactics and the shooting deaths of at least two people during confrontations with federal authorities, including 37-year-old Alex Pretti. The Trump administration blames Democratic politicians for encouraging the protests.
Marcos Charles, acting executive associate director of ICE’s enforcement removal operations, told reporters over the weekend that one of his agents “permanently” lost a part of his finger when a protester bit it off Saturday in Minneapolis, where authorities have been clashing with protesters since the death of Renee Good.
“This kind of violence is not a coincidence,” Charles said. “When sanctuary politicians, activists and the media work hard to create chaos and fear instead of using their platforms to reassure their communities, this is the result.”
McLaughlin said ICE law enforcement officers are facing an 8,000% increase in death threats against them amid the push back over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. There has been a more than 1,300% increase in assaults “while they risk their lives every single day to remove murderers, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists, and gang members” from the country, she said.
“Make no mistake, threatening rhetoric and this unprecedented violence against our law enforcement is incited by sanctuary politicians through their repeated vilification and demonization of law enforcement,” she said. “Comparing ICE day-in and day-out to the Nazi Gestapo, the Secret Police, and slave patrols has consequences.”
“The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop,” she added. “Like everyone else, they just want to go home to their families at night.”
