MSNBC’s Dilanian on Anti-ICE Rhetoric: Remember, There’s ‘Deep Opposition’ to Their Tactics 

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” MSNBC Justice and Intelligence Correspondent Ken Dilanian responded to criticism of anti-ICE rhetoric in the wake of a shooting at a Texas ICE Facility by stating that “we all have to keep in mind, we’re in a situation here where there is deep opposition to some of the things that ICE is doing in this country, the idea of them detaining people wearing masks, the tactics that they’re using — which, of course, does not justify violence — but that’s the atmosphere from which this is emanating and also an atmosphere of increased risk of political violence.”

Dilanian said, “DHS says there’s been a 700% increase in assaults on ICE officers in recent months. And, of course, there was the most dramatic recent incident, that happened on July 4 in Alvarado, TX, at the Prairieland Detention Center, when a group of as many as 15 people, essentially, some wearing tactical gear, some armed with rifles, attacked that facility, shot a local police officer to death, — according to authorities — and many of them are now charged with attempted — with murder and other very serious crimes. And that has been determined to have been an anti-ICE attack. There [have] been a number of lesser instances. In San Francisco, for example, in August, a group of ICE officers was attacked by a mob and assaulted. There [have] been different alleged assaults. And, in fact, there was a bomb threat at this very facility, they are telling us, a couple of months ago. So, there’s been a rash of these [incidents].”

He continued, “You heard Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) saying at the news conference earlier that the anti-ICE rhetoric has to stop, the idea of calling ICE Nazis and saying that they must be stopped. But, of course, we all have to keep in mind, we’re in a situation here where there is deep opposition to some of the things that ICE is doing in this country, the idea of them detaining people wearing masks, the tactics that they’re using — which, of course, does not justify violence — but that’s the atmosphere from which this is emanating and also an atmosphere of increased risk of political violence. And you see, with the messages on the bullet, copying previous politically-motivated attacks, that appears to have happened in this situation. So, it’s a really toxic brew of things that are happening in our society now.”

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