ICE boss dares Democrat city's female sheriff to double down on her brazen threats to arrest agents
SOURCE:Daily Mail
Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Todd Lyons has hit back at a Philadelphia sheriff who called his agents 'fake, wannabe law enforcement' in a fiery speech.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Todd Lyons has hit back at a Philadelphia sheriff who called his agents 'fake, wannabe law enforcement' in a fiery speech.
'If any [ICE agents] want to come in this city and commit a crime, you will not be able to hide, nobody will whisk you off,' Bilal warned in a press conference Friday.
'You don't want this smoke, cause we will bring it to you. The criminal in the White House would not be able to keep you from going to jail,' she said in reference to President Donald Trump.
Bilal, who has faced accusations in the past of improper use of funds, was speaking alongside 'woke' District Attorney Larry Krasner in condemning the shooting of Good.
Lyons hit back at Bilal on Fox News Saturday, daring her to continue threatening his officers.
'First off, any time you pit law enforcement officers against law enforcement officers, it makes nobody safe,' he said.
'I'm not one for big banter or bluster, but my message to the sheriff is: try it. Try [and] arrest my folks and see what happens,' Lyons added.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Todd Lyons (pictured) isn't backing down from a Philadelphia sheriff who called his agents 'fake, wannabe law enforcement' in a fiery speech
Democrat Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal (pictured) joined much of the left in blasting ICE in the wake of the fatal shooting of Minnesota 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by agent Jonathan Ross
Bilal continued to criticize ICE and its operating procedures during an interview with CNN on Friday.
'People are tired of these people coming into the city, masked up — basically all masked up — and pulling people out and causing havoc,' she said.
'This was supposed to be helping cities out, this was supposed to be eliminating crime, but yet, you are committing them here, you are putting people in fear, you are breaking up families.'
'I’m begging. Tone down the rhetoric. In my career, I’ve buried Border Patrol agents, I’ve buried ICE agents, and the saddest thing I’ve ever had to do is hand a folded flag to a spouse or a child,' he told Dr. Phil.
'I don’t want to see anybody die. Anybody. The people we’re looking for, even the worst of the worst. I don’t want to see anybody die. So, for God’s sake, let’s tone the rhetoric down. Less blood. I don’t want to see more bloodshed. I didn’t want to see blood from day one.'
On Saturday, however, Democrats continued to rage against federal law enforcement.
Three congresswomen from Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building in the morning and were initially allowed to enter but then told they had to leave about 10 minutes later.
'If any [ICE agents] want to come in this city and commit a crime, you will not be able to hide, nobody will whisk you off,' Bilal warned in a press conference Friday. 'You don't want this smoke, cause we will bring it to you'
Politicians are allowed to visit ICE buildings, but the federal agency has attempted to limit access and has accused Democrats of using the visits as political theater.
Omar and her 'woke army' said the visit was part of an oversight visit and that they were invited by invited former acting director, The Minnesota Star Tribune said.
The protest was one of hundreds planned for towns and cities across the country over the weekend. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Good on Wednesday by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
'We were initially invited in to do our Congressional oversight and to exercise our Article I duties,' Omar said.
Morrison said they were denied entry to the building due to the structure being funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill, 'which makes no sense,' she said.
'With the recent reaffirmation of the court case in December, they're breaking the law,' Morrison said on Saturday.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Daily Mail that Omar 'led a group of protestors to the Minneapolis ICE facility' and didn't follow proper protocol of giving the agency a seven-day notice to visit.
Lyons' comments come as the nation remained on edge over the shooting, while Minnesota Representatives Ilhan Omar (middle), and Angie Craig (right) and Kelly Morrison (left) were denied access to an ICE detention facility on Saturday
'For the safety of detainees and staff, and in compliance with the agency’s mandate, the Members of Congress were notified that their visit was improper and out of compliance with existing court orders and policies which mandate that members of Congress must notify ICE at least seven days in advance of Congressional visits,' she said.
'If Congresswoman Omar and her colleagues with to tour these facilities, then they must follow the proper guidelines.'
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced new rules regarding Congressional visits to ICE facilities on Thursday.
Lawmakers must now give notice to DHS a week in advance of going to a facility for oversight purposes which it appears the Minnesota representatives had not done.
Tensions have been rising between lawmakers and citizens against ICE after the death of Good, who lawmakers said was 'murdered' by the federal agency on Wednesday during a protest in Minneapolis.
Outside the St Paul facility, Omar told the press: 'In Minnesota, we know how to protect one another.
'This is an all-hands-on-deck process.'
She insisted ICE agents' aggression and angry stemmed from citizens' resistance to their doings, she said at a press conference outside the facility.
Renee Nicole Good (pictured) was shot and killed by an ICE agent on Wednesday during a protest
Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis
An ICE agent was seen entering the facility on Saturday with his window rolled down and a can of pepper spray in his lap.
'Why do you have your pepper spray out? Why do you have your pepper spray out?' a journalist yelled from the press line outside the facility's gate.
'What's the danger? Members of Congress are here. Why is the pepper spray out?'
Omar, alongside 156 other lawmakers, have demanded accountability after Good's death.
They demanded 'an immediate suspension of the current surge of federal officers and agents to Minneapolis and an investigation into this reprehensible event by an independent agency.'
'We write to express our horror and outrage at the actions that have taken place under your command. This is not the first time your agents have used unnecessary force on civilians without provocation,' the lawmakers wrote in a statement.
'You have lost the faith and confidence of the American people.
'We demand that you immediately suspend the current surge of federal officers and agents to Minneapolis and that you work with an independent agency to ensure transparency and accountability throughout the course of the investigation into this reprehensible event.'
Noem has promised to send more agents to the Twin Cities as they conduct their largest operation 'ever.'
She also claimed Good's actions were an 'act of domestic terrorism' as the federal agency insisted the mother's death was a cause of the agent, Jonathan Ross, acting in self defense.
However, many lawmakers have disregarded this narrative, with Mayor Jacob Frey calling it 'bulls**t.'
The Democrat angrily told ICE to 'get the f**k out of Minneapolis' on Wednesday during a press conference.