Rep. Jayapal rebuts White House incitement claims after Dallas ICE attack
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D‑Wash.) publicly denied a White House charge that her rhetoric helped incite attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, speaking in an ABC News interview after the White House issued a statement blaming Democrats for inflammatory language following last week's deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas. Jayapal said her remarks describing ICE actions as "kidnapping" and "deranged" are factual, not violent, and cited a separate threatening post by Arizona state Rep. John Gillette as an example of rhetoric that should be investigated.
Politics
Public Safety
🔍 Key Facts
- The White House released a statement accusing Democrats—naming Rep. Pramila Jayapal—of using language that it said "incited a 1,000% surge in assaults on agents."
- Jayapal told ABC News: "I have no rhetoric that I regret. Nothing that I have said is rhetoric that incites violence."
- The article links the political dispute to a recent deadly shooting at a Dallas ICE facility that the FBI said targeted ICE agents (FBI Dallas special agent Joseph Rothrock quoted).
📍 Contextual Background
- Video footage captured an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer pushing a visibly upset Ecuadoran woman to the ground outside an immigration court at the 26 Federal Plaza building in Manhattan.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigates incidents of targeted violence.
- The Department of Homeland Security released a statement saying the officer was being relieved of current duties while a full investigation was conducted and denouncing the officer's conduct as unacceptable.
- New York Representative Dan Goldman and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the ICE officer and consider potential prosecution related to the incident.
- ICE identified the detained husband involved in the courthouse altercation as Ruben Abelardo Ortiz-Lopez and said he illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in March 2024.
- ICE said Ruben Abelardo Ortiz-Lopez came onto ICE's radar after being arrested by local authorities in June 2024 on charges of assault and criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executes search warrants at residences and family homes as part of criminal investigations.