Wednesday's shooting at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas that left two detainees and the alleged shooter dead is just the latest in political and immigration-related violence this year.
The shooter's motives and targets are unclear, but Joe Rothrock, the special agent in charge of the Dallas FBI field office, said at a press conference Wednesday morning the agency is investigating the shooting as "an act of targeted violence." Investigators found bullet casings they said contained anti-ICE messages.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed two detainees were shot and one is in critical condition. No one from law enforcement was injured in the shooting, DHS said.
The fatal shooting comes amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdowns since taking office in January and the nationwide responses to his measures, including protests across the country.
It also comes after a year of high-profile, political incidents involving gun violence, including the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk exactly two weeks ago and the killings of two Minnesota Democratic lawmakers in June.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pointed out Wednesday's shooting is the third in Texas involving ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection and called on political violence to end.
"To every politician who is using rhetoric demonizing ICE and demonizing CBP, stop," Cruz told reporters. "To every politician demanding that ICE agents be doxxed and calling for people to go after their families, stop."
This isn't the first incident at the ICE field office in recent months. The building, which sees detainees as well as people with ongoing immigration cases checking in with officers, received a bomb threat last month.
Dallas City Council Member Adam Bazaldua expressed his sorrow over the shooting in a statement Wednesday, saying the country's immigrants are "bearing the brunt" of hate and violence spreading within the United States. Bazaldua also condemned any politicization of the incident.
"At a time when our communities are desperate for healing, leadership, and real solutions, we are instead met with more division and finger-pointing," Bazaldua said. "We cannot continue down this path of hate and violence. Our country and all of its people deserve better."
Alvarado ICE detention center shooting
Seventeen people have been arrested over the course of two months in connection with a July 4 shooting at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, about 30 miles south of Fort Worth. About a dozen people arrived outside the detention center that night, setting off fireworks outside the facility, according to court documents.
ICE correctional officers called Alvarado police. When an officer arrived, several people started fleeing on foot and ignored verbal commands, court documents show. Then a person in the woods began shooting, hitting an Alvarado officer who has since recovered, according to court documents.
The initial complaint by the U.S. Justice Department said two people — one wearing a black mask, another wearing a green one — shot at correctional officers and the Alvarado officer 20-to-30 times.
But a more recent complaint obtained by KERA News states new evidence suggests there was only one shooter and 11 shell casings recovered from the scene.
The defendants allegedly had cans of spray paint and wrote "ICE Pig" and "Traitor" on cars in the parking lot. Police found firearms, magazines with ammunition, body armor and flyers that said "fight ICE terror with class war" and "free all political prisoners" on the suspects and their cars.
Ten people were arrested the night of the shooting and seven more have been arrested since on charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault and terrorism. That includes former Marine Corps reservist Benjamin Song, who was arrested after more than a week after a police and FBI manhunt.
Federal authorities have called the incident a coordinated attack against law enforcement. Some arrestees and their attorneys have said the incident was only intended to be a protest, and the alleged shooter acted alone.
Political scientists told KERA News the incident is indicative of an uptick in political violence on both sides of the political aisle.
Fourteen defendants made their first appearances in Fort Worth federal court Monday and Tuesday for their federal charges. Several will be back in court next Tuesday for hearings to determine probable cause in their charges and whether they should be kept in detention.
The arrestees had been held in the Johnson County Jail on million-dollar bonds, but they've now been moved to the Wichita County Jail as of Wednesday morning, jail records show.
Dario Sanchez, a Dallas teacher who was arrested for removing some of the defendants and their texts from a Discord group chat — then bonded out — was rearrested this week after law enforcement monitoring his devices said he made "explosive construction internet queries" in violation of his bond conditions. He and his attorney say his searches related to batteries and melting plastic were research for his hobbies: making anime figurines, building a remote-controlled car and fixing his Game Boy.
He's scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon for a bond hearing.
July 7 McAllen shooting
Days after the Alvarado shooting, a man fired dozens of rounds at federal agents with an assault rifle at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, injuring a police officer before authorities shot and killed him.
Authorities identified the gunman as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, a Michigan man around 27 years old, who was shooting at agents leaving the building.
According to an incident report obtained by ValleyCentral, Mosqueda's father reported his son as a missing person hours before the shooting and told authorities his son was armed.
Mosqueda's brother told TV station WOOD that Mosqueda had been dealing with mental health issues, and the attack came "out of the blue."
Sept. 12 Chicago shooting
An ICE agent fatally shot a suspect who tried to evade arrest in a suburb of Chicago by driving at officers and dragging one of them, the Associated Press reported. The Department of Homeland Security said the officer was trying to arrest a man with a history of reckless driving who had entered the country illegally, but he refused orders and drove his car at officers.
ICE identified Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez as the suspect who later died in the hospital.
Additional reporting from KERA's Penelope Rivera and Caroline Love.
Toluwani Osibamowo is KERA's law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org.
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