U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday blamed the “disturbing public discourse” surrounding the Trump administration’s detention policies after shots were fired into an ICE office overnight Tuesday in San Antonio.
Investigators said multiple shots were fired into the office of ICE’s Immigration Enforcement and Removal division about 3 a.m. at the Jefferson Bank building on the city’s northeast side. Shots were fired into a second nearby building that also houses ICE-related offices, but that address was not disclosed.
No one was injured, but “had the bullets gone two inches in another direction, we could be here today talking about the murder of a federal official,” said Christopher Combs, the FBI’s special agent in charge in San Antonio, NBC News reported.
“All of the shots that we have found are on the floors where ICE had offices,” he said. “They knew what floors ICE was on, they knew what buildings they were in, and they hit those.”
No suspect has been arrested in connection with the shootings. At a press conference Tuesday, authorities said they were “concerned there could be additional attacks” on local federal offices.
“These shootings were cowardly, brazen, violent acts, absolutely without justification and a threat to our entire community,” Agent Combs said, a local CBS affiliate reported. “We cannot allow political discourse to lead us to the point of violence, where federal employees, innocent people doing their jobs, are put in harm’s way.”
Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, tweeted a photo of what he said was a bullet hole in a window at one of the offices.
Here’s a photo of one of the bullet holes from this morning. @USCIS stands with @ICE as they work to enforce our laws and keep Americans safe! pic.twitter.com/AUvgpGJco6
— USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli (@USCISCuccinelli) August 13, 2019
“Political rhetoric and misinformation that various politicians, media outlets and activist groups recklessly disseminate to the American people regarding the ICE mission only serve to further encourage these violent acts,” ICE said in a statement released through the San Antonio office, NBC News reported.
“ICE officers put their lives on the line each and every day to keep our communities safe,” the statement said. “This disturbing public discourse shrouds our critical law enforcement function and unnecessarily puts our officers’ safety at risk.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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