Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told Newsmax on Thursday that Democrats' rhetoric toward law enforcement is fueling attacks, such as the shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas on Wednesday.
In an appearance on "National Report," Patrick said Republicans have consistently backed police and federal agents, while Democrats have undermined them.
"On the issue of law enforcement, it's clearly the Republicans are on the right side of this, and the Democrats are not," Patrick said. "Republicans, not in one state or one city, never passed a bill to defund police. Democrats did that.
"Republicans have never, never come out against ICE and Homeland Security for doing their job. Democrats have constantly done that."
A detainee was killed and two others were injured when police say Joshua Jahn, 26, fired indiscriminately at a Dallas ICE facility before killing himself. The shooting has intensified the debate over how political speech influences violent acts against law enforcement.
Patrick rejected the idea that both parties share blame.
"This is not like, well, both sides are at fault," he said. "The Democrats have to be responsible in their rhetoric."
Patrick pointed to a disturbing detail from the Dallas attack: bullet casings marked with messages.
"This is a whole new phenomenon," he explained. "You could trace it back to World War II when people wrote on the side of a bomb or even over Iraq. But this phenomenon now is clearly coming from copycats. They see other shooters do it. They're now putting messages on bullets.
"So, No. 1, your rhetoric does make a difference."
Patrick said Democrats' words directly endanger law enforcement.
"I hold them responsible – responsible for a lot of this violence against police everywhere and against ICE – because they continue to push this rhetoric out that we all hear," he said.
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