(The Center Square) – Multiple people have been shot at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas, Texas, including two fatalities, in what law enforcement officials are describing as a “targeted” attack.
During a news conference on Wednesday morning, law enforcement officials confirmed that four individuals were shot in total, two deceased, including the suspected shooter; none of the victims were law enforcement.
Joe Rothrock, special agent in charge of the Dallas FBI, said the incident is being investigated as “an act of targeted violence.”
“What I can also share with you is that early evidence that we’ve seen from rounds that were found near the suspected shooter contain messages that are anti-ICE in nature,” said Rothrock.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo of unspent shell casings, saying that evidence shows the motive may have been ideologically based.
“While the investigation is ongoing, an initial review of the evidence shows an ideological motive behind this attack…One of the unspent shell casings recovered was engraved with the phrase ‘ANTI ICE.’ More updates will be forthcoming,” Patel posted to X. “These despicable, politically motivated attacks against law enforcement are not a one-off. We are only miles from Prarieland Texas where just two months ago an individual ambushed a separate ICE facility targeting their officers. It has to end and the FBI and our partners will lead the these investigative efforts to see to it that those who target our law enforcement are pursued and brought to the fullest extent of justice.”
Joshua Johnson, acting field office director for ICE Dallas, says the rhetoric against ICE needs to stop.
“This is the second time I had to stand in front of you to talk about a shooter at one of my facilities. And I think 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 in, they’re doing acts of violence against ICE employees…It’s just got to stop. It’s dangerous, and people are losing their lives,” said Johson.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was on hand for the news conference, echoing Johnson’s comments, admonishing the violence and anti-ICE rhetoric.
“This is the third shooting in Texas directed at ICE or CPB. This must stop. To every politician who is using rhetoric demonizing ICE and demonizing CPB. Stop to every politician demanding that ICE agents be doxed and calling for people to go after their families,” said Cruz.
On Aug. 25, exactly one month before the shooting, the ICE facility received a bomb threat. A suspect, identified as Bratton Dean Wilkinson, was arrested. Homeland Security officials say the suspect arrived at the reporting entrance, claiming to have a bomb in his backpack while showing “what he claimed to be a ‘detonator’ on his wrist.”
While the motive is unclear, the incident follows a July ambush on an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas, resulting in one officer being shot in the neck. The White House has attributed the shooting to Antifa.
In addition to the attack on the facility in Alvarado, there have been several other attacks and threats on ICE facilities as well as ICE officials since President Donald Trump and his administration began cracking down on immigration.
On Monday evening, the president officially designated Antifa a domestic terror organization after a question from The Center Square on Sept. 15, asking if he had plans to designate the organization.
