Federal immigration agents escaped an arson attack at their office in Yakima, Washington, over the weekend, the New York Post has reported.
An unidentified arsonist first hurled a rock through a window of the ICE field office and then set a fire in the back of the property on Saturday, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. No injuries were reported.
The ICE field office is part of a complex 140 miles southeast of Seattle that also has a Washington state Department of Social and Health Services office.
After the fire was set, a thick cloud of smoke billowed above a chain-link fence surrounding the building.
McLaughlin harshly criticized sanctuary leaders for demonizing immigration agents and said that assaults on ICE personnel have surged 830% as the Trump administration carries out a mass deportation campaign.
"Make no mistake, Democrat politicians like [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries, Mayor [Michelle] Wu of Boston, [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz, and Mayor [Karen] Bass of Los Angeles are contributing to the surge in assaults of our ICE officers through their repeated vilification and demonization of ICE," said McLaughlin. "From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi Gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale."
She added that "[Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem has been clear: Anyone who seeks to harm law enforcement officers will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
In another recent attack against ICE, Los Angeles rioters two months ago threw concrete blocks at federal officers working at the detention center downtown.
The rioters began the rampage in response to a deportation raid at a local Home Depot.
President Donald Trump later deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city in order to control the violence.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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