Officials: Dallas ICE attack shows danger of online hate

Authorities from multiple agencies hosted a press conference on Thursday to provide an update on the ongoing investigation into the shooting at a Dallas ICE facility that left one detainee dead and two more injured. Law enforcement is now calling for dangerous online rhetoric to come to an end.

U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson expressed sorrow that this was the third threat or attack on law enforcement in Texas during her four-month tenure, including an alleged bomb threat from Bratton Dean Wilkinson in late August.

The ‘tragic irony’ of the attack is that it was meant to inspire ‘real terror’ and ‘induce stress’ on ICE personnel but left only ICE detainees dead and injured.

Larson described the most recent attack on Wednesday by the deceased suspect identified as Joshua Jahn, 29. Law enforcement believes he arrived at the facility around 3 a.m. in a vehicle with a large ladder attached to the top that allowed him to access the roof of a nearby building. The shooting began around 6:30 a.m., during which he killed one ICE detainee and injured two others. Jahn’s body was later found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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Photo by ARIC BECKER/AFP via Getty Images

Jahn shot into a detention van as well as the windows of the facility. It was also confirmed that the shooter used a legally acquired 8mm bolt action rifle in the attack. According to the findings of the investigation, there was a “high degree of pre-attack planning.”

Law enforcement officers added that they searched the house of the shooter and discovered handwritten notes detailing the plan for the attack, which they say is the best evidence they have for understanding his motives. Jahn was purportedly clear that he viewed ICE agents as “people showing up to collect a dirty paycheck.” He also expressed hatred for the federal government in what investigators described as “crude words.”

According to officials at the press conference, the “tragic irony” of the attack is that it was meant to inspire “real terror” and “induce stress” on ICE personnel but left only ICE detainees dead and injured. They confirmed that he acted alone.

They also confirmed that the shooter was using an ICE tracker app, to which press secretary Karoline Leavitt brought attention earlier in the day. Leavitt accused CNN of giving “free publicity” to one of these apps in the past.

All who spoke at the press conference emphasized that the hateful rhetoric and inciteful language on the internet and from the media are a key factor in the rise of these violent attacks.