The Department of Homeland Security, following President Donald Trump, blamed “the media, leftist groups, and sanctuary politicians” for political violence and assaults on ICE agents, specifically naming U.S. congresspeople including Connecticut Rep. John B. Larson.
The statement, posted to the official Homeland Security website, refers to the assassination last week of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and two recent assaults on ICE agents. The statement includes a quote from Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin but text outside the quote also uses partisan language. It is entitled “DHS Calls for Media and Far Left to Stop the Demonization of President Trump, His Supporters, and DHS Law Enforcement.”
“Following the evil act of political violence in the country this week and two brutal assaults on our brave ICE law enforcement last week, we are once again calling on the media and the far left to stop the hateful rhetoric directed at President Trump, those who support him, and our brave DHS law enforcement,” McLaughlin is quoted as saying in the statement.
“This demonization is inspiring violence across the country. Our ICE officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them. We have to turn down the temperature before someone else is killed. This violence must end.”
A long list naming members of Congress, Democratic politicians, TikTokers and the ACLU follows with screenshots of conservative social media accounts quoting their criticisms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Many are from Rapid Response 47, which is attributed to the Trump and the White House. DHS describes the list as “violent rhetoric against DHS law enforcement.” Most of the criticism, including from Larson, likens ICE to the Gestapo, secret police, the SS, a neo-Nazi and a Nazi group.
Larson, who recently called on Congress to pass the No Secret Police Act, which would require ICE agents to identify themselves and prohibit them from wearing masks, and the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, to prevent ICE raids at schools, hospitals, courthouses, and places of worship, is shown in a video shouting, “This is not Germany. That’s the SS and the Gestapo. This is the United States of America – unmask yourselves.”
Larson and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong described the DHS statement as “targeting Rep. Larson and immigrant advocates for speaking out against ICE’s abusive tactics and reaffirmed their commitment to defending constitutional rights and holding the Trump Administration accountable for its attacks on free speech and civil liberties.”
The statement comes as Trump has blamed left-leaning groups for Kirk’s murder and threatened to crack down on “dangerous” political speech. Following Kirk’s murder thousands of Democrats were targeted with calls for their firing, expulsion or investigation for social media posts deemed celebratory or critical of Kirk. In Connecticut, at least one local official has stepped down after backlash for a social media post.
It also coincides with the indefinite suspension of late-night ABC host Jimmy Kimmel over comments about conservative response to Kirk’s death. Trump had previously called for Kimmel’s firing and Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, have called it censorship and government coercion.
While Republicans have decried Democrats as inciting political violence, Larson and Tong alleged the DHS post itself is dangerous.
“This report is reckless, and this kind of irresponsible tagging of political enemies needs to stop…. ,” Tong said. “We have to do better. But if I know one thing about John Larson, he will not be silenced. He’s going to keep speaking up—loudly—to call out wrongs when they occur, to defend our rights and our democracy, and to protect Connecticut families. And he’s going to do that with his voice and his votes, and it is incumbent upon all of us to see and know the difference between forceful and necessary democratic protest and bloodshed.”
Gary Rose, professor of politics and scholar in residence at Sacred Heart University, said the DHS statement is a departure from normal workings of a government agency.
“It’s very atypical for an executive agency to be calling out members of Congress and what is particularly interesting about that is that these agencies depend on congressional support for their survival,” Rose said by phone Thursday. “It’s very unusual to see the hostility against Congress.”
The politicization is, he said, a symptom of the partisan division that is endemic in American society today.
“It’s a reflection of the atmosphere we’re living in. Each side believes the other is hostile – that’s what’s going on here. And for Kristi Noem and others to be accusing members of Congress, it is a reflection of what has emerged in American politics these days,” Rose said.
At Sacred Heart in Fairfield and across the country, he said, meetings and discussions are taking place about toning down rhetoric and working to restore civility. Several leaders have called this moment an inflection point in American politics and culture in which leaders should seek unity amid increasingly divisive views often perpetuated on social media in order to stem a wave of political violence.
Rose said he didn’t hold much hope that would occur.
“It’s getting worse and it’s going to get worse in the days and months and years ahead. I can’t say it’s just associated with the Trump presidency but I will say it has accelerated greatly under him,” Rose said. “Trump has the largest megaphone on that and he certainly can keep that going for as long as he wants but on the other side we have (U.S. Sen.) Chris Murphy and some people from Congress who also have megaphones.
“They really see it as important to placate their unique constituencies and it does sustain them. If it didn’t they probably would tone it down but they find it benefits them.”
Murphy, who has been one of Democrats’ most vocal critics of Trump, has claimed the president is rushing the country into fascism and illegally profiting off the presidency. Thursday he introduced the “No Political Enemies Act,” to put in place legal protections for prosecution or harassment for political speech.
“The shooting of Charlie Kirk was a national tragedy. It should have been a line in the sand, an opportunity for President Trump to bring this country together, to do whatever is necessary to stamp out political violence … but Trump and his lieutenants are choosing a different path. They are choosing to exploit this tragedy, to weaponize the federal government to destroy Donald Trump’s political opposition,” Murphy said in a press conference announcing the Act.
He referred to Kimmel’s firing: “Trump’s FCC forced a major network to pull a loud Trump critic, Jimmy Kimmel, off the air essentially saying that any media actor who doesn’t say what Trump wants them to say about Charlie Kirk or Trump’s policies is going to be silenced. That’s censorship. That’s state speech control. That’s not America. Trump is making it 100% clear that he is going to ramp up his efforts to use the power of the federal government to harass and punish his critics – not because they’re supporters of political violence – they are not – but because they have the audacity to openly oppose his policies.”