House Homeland Republicans warn of increased threats to law enforcement over dangerous rhetoric
Lawmakers highlighted how elected officials in cities like Chicago, and states like Illinois and Minnesota have contributed to the inflammatory rhetoric around federal law enforcement operations.
Attacks against ICE
Republican lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee examined during a hearing Wednesday how an increase in anti-law enforcement rhetoric is leading to more doxing and violent attacks on law enforcement officers.
The hearing comes after two West Virginia National Guard members were shot last week near the White House, which killed one service member and severely injured the other. The Trump administration has also warned of a significant increase in attacks on federal law enforcement officers, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
House Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino highlighted the impact of anti-law enforcement sentiment on operational effectiveness and promised to provide law enforcement officers with the resources and support they need.
“Law enforcement officers work tirelessly on behalf of our communities and the situations they face on a daily basis take a heavy toll on their mental health even in the best of times," Garbarino said.
“When inflammatory rhetoric leads to actions that endanger officers' lives, we enter dangerous territory," he continued. "Rising hostility erodes morale, fuels burnout, and hinders recruitment and retention for law enforcement. Ultimately that weakens public safety and national security harming the very communities activists claim to defend.”
Lawmakers highlighted how elected officials in cities like Chicago, and states like Illinois and Minnesota have contributed to the inflammatory rhetoric around federal law enforcement operations.
Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker recently claimed that the current climate resembles Nazi Germany because of ICE.
“What is really alarming, I think, to a lot of us is the normalization of this anti-rhetoric," Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Executive Director Michael Hughes testified. "We have to understand that police officers are enforcing the laws. They're enforcing the laws that this body makes and that the elected officials make. When we have that anti-rhetoric on law enforcement officers, it just fuels the fire."
The full hearing can be viewed here.
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