Speaking at the Dallas press conference, Texas senator Ted Cruz condemned political violence, pointing the finger at politicians’ rhetoric around ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“This is the third shooting in Texas directed at ICE or CBP. This must stop,” he said. “To every politician who is using rhetoric demonizing ICE and demonizing CBP, stop!”
On social media, Vice-President J.D. Vance said he was praying for those injured in the shooting, adding, “The obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.”
When political commentator Jon Favreau criticized Vance, alleging he was providing a “political take” rather than accurate information, the vice-president responded with an insult:
Vance continued to address the shooting at an unrelated event in North Carolina, claiming that the shooter was a “a violent left-wing extremist.”
“There’s some evidence that we have that’s not yet public, but we know this person was politically motivated,” Vance said.
Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem said the shooting should act as a “wake-up call” to the far left about its rhetoric, claiming ICE officers have been compared to the “Nazi Gestapo” and “slave patrols.”
“The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop,” she wrote on social media.
