ICE Chief Blames Violence On Dems Telling Americans to ‘Protect Your Neighbor’

Todd Lyons, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, blamed the violence in Minneapolis — including ICE-involved shootings that left a woman dead — on Democrats telling community members to “protect your neighbor.”

Lyons made the comment on The Story With Martha MacCallum on Thursday, where he appeared to reference Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s (D) appearance on Fox & Friends that morning.

During his a.m. appearance, Frey said, “We have had perhaps tens of thousands of people peacefully protesting in the streets, and at the same time, yeah, they are going to stand up for their neighbors. What we are seeing time and time again is unconstitutional conduct by ICE.”

Later Thursday afternoon, MacCallum asked Lyons about a video from earlier this week showing multiple ICE agents pulling a woman out of a car as she violently resisted.

“I read a piece this morning about her, that she is an activist,” MacCallum said. “But clearly this kind of video is the sort of thing that, you know, gets people riled up. They may not know all the details around it. What do you say about this video?”

“Without getting too specific, since the fact that we do have criminal charges on that individual. You have somebody that’s driving into a scene, driving into a law enforcement situation after being warned not to do that. You know, coming at officers, blocking in vehicles. Then, when she’s told to get out of the car she doesn’t, and she resists at that point.”

Lyons continued:

And unfortunately again, you know, I hate to sound like a broken record but when you have elected officials that are saying, “Go out and do this. Go out and impede ICE,” you know, “Go out and protect your neighbor,” And they’re doing it like this — this is what happens that leads to it. And unfortunately, you know, these videos come up and there’s only one side to it and we’re constantly having to go on the defense. But the men and women of ICE Are professional law enforcement officers. That’s what they’re out there doing every day. At the end of the day we have to make sure our men and women of ICE and law enforcement are safe every night.

After Wednesday night’s ICE-involved shooting, where an officer was allegedly attacked and “feared for his life,” according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Frey denounced ICE, but urged calm.

“Let’s be very clear: I’ve seen conduct from ICE that is disgusting and intolerable. If it were your city, it would be unacceptable there, too. And for anyone who is taking the bait tonight, stop.”

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!