An illegal immigrant allegedly rammed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with their car in Los Angeles Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The officer fired at the car as the suspect attempted to flee, injuring the suspect and a law enforcement officer with a ricocheted bullet. Both are in the hospital.
The ramming continues a trend of violence against ICE officers after a shooting last month at a Dallas ICE facility. DHS says the suspect had previously escaped from custody and was trying to do so again by “weaponizing” his vehicle. He had been pulled over before he attempted to flee.
“Fearing for the safety of the public and law enforcement, our officers followed their training and fired defensive shots. The illegal alien was shot in the elbow and one law enforcement officer was shot in the hand by a ricochet bullet,” Assistant Secretary and DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the Washington Examiner.
“These are the consequences of conduct and rhetoric by sanctuary politicians and activists who urge illegal aliens to resist arrest,” she said. “Resisting arrest puts the safety of illegal aliens, law enforcement, and the public at risk. Our law enforcement officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them, including vehicle rammings by illegal aliens.”
McLaughlin called on “sanctuary politicians, agitators, and the media” to “turn the temperature down” and “stop calling for violence and resistance against ICE law enforcement.”
The DHS then shared examples of politicians sharing “resources and tips for how to openly defy ICE,” naming Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).
DHS said Newsom advised “illegal aliens how to recognize ICE, block entry, and defy arrest” with online guides, and AOC shared a guide on how to evade arrest.
Rhetoric and actions against immigration officers have reached a fever pitch as they descend onto major cities like Chicago and Los Angeles.
A protester at a ‘No Kings’ protest called for ICE officers to “get shot and wiped out,” prompting a response from the DHS, which referred the man to the Department of Justice.
“You gotta grab a gun, we gotta turn around the guns on this fascist system,” the man yelled into a microphone. “These ICE agents gotta get shot and wiped out.”
The DHS responded: “During the Chicago NO KINGS rally this previous weekend, violent rioters called for the cold-blooded murder of ICE agents. This rioter, and his statements have been referred to the DOJ. There is no place in America for psychotic incitements of unlawful violence against ICE.”
The two alleged antifa members who shot at a Texas ICE facility last month have been indicted on terrorism-related charges. The men, Cameron Arnold and Zachary Evetts, were officially charged with providing material support for terrorism, attempting to murder federal and assisting officers, and discharging firearms during attempted murders.
The charges were believed to have been the first of their kind brought against antifa-linked suspects.
Antifa has been blamed by the Trump administration for political violence, and President Donald Trump recently said the government would look into their funding.
“They have been very threatening to people, but we’re going to be threatening to them, far more threatening to them than they ever were with us, and that includes the people that fund them,” Trump said. “We’re going to be looking very strongly at the people funding these operations.”
The ‘No Kings’ protests earlier this week resulted in more political division as Trump openly disagreed with more than 2,700 protests across the nation. He insisted the namesake of the protest had no basis.
‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTER CALLS FOR ICE OFFICERS TO ‘GET SHOT AND WIPED OUT’
“By the way, I’m not a king. I’m not a king. I work my ass off to make our country great, that’s all it is. I’m not a king at all,” Trump said.
Much of the protests fixated on the Trump administration’s immigration agenda and the actions of ICE.
