Joshua Jahn, 29, killed detainee before taking own life as President condemns ‘despicable’ attack and signs order designating Antifa as terrorist organisation
The gunman who opened fire at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas has been identified as Joshua Jahn, prompting President Donald Trump to blame “radical left Democrats” for inciting violence against federal agents facing a 700 per cent surge in attacks.
Jahn, 29, fired “indiscriminately” from a rooftop adjacent to the ICE field office at around 6.40am on Wednesday, killing one detainee and critically wounding two others before turning the gun on himself. Despite his family saying he had little interest in politics, investigators found a bullet casing near his body with “anti-ICE” written on it in blue ink.
The President condemned the attack as “despicable” whilst addressing the nation from overseas. The brave men and women of ICE are just trying to do their jobs and remove the ‘worst of the worst’ criminals out of country, but they are facing an unprecedented increase in threats, violence, and attacks by deranged radical leftists,” Trump declared.
Family Shocked by Political Violence
Noah Jahn, the gunman’s older brother, expressed bewilderment at the anti-ICE messaging found at the scene. “He didn’t have strong feelings about ICE as far as I knew,” Noah told reporters from his home in McKinney, Texas, approximately 30 miles north of Dallas. “I didn’t think he was politically interested. He wasn’t interested in politics on either side as far as I knew.”
The brothers grew up in Allen, Texas, where they participated in the Boy Scouts together. Noah described his younger brother as “unique” but said he never would have thought Joshua capable of a politically motivated shooting. He last saw his brother two weeks ago at their parents’ house in Oklahoma, where nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Court records reveal Jahn pleaded guilty in 2016 to delivering marijuana in amounts between a quarter ounce and five pounds, a state jail felony. He was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and fined £371, with the case ultimately deferred and Jahn placed on probation. A spokesperson for Collin College in McKinney confirmed someone matching Jahn’s name and date of birth attended classes “at various times” between 2013 and 2018.
Democrats’ Rhetoric Under Fire
Vice President JD Vance blamed Democrats’ criticism of ICE for creating conditions that led to the shooting. “When Democratic politicians encourage us to unmask ICE enforcement officers, what do you think is going to happen?” Vance told reporters in North Carolina. “What’s going to happen is political violence, and political violence has gotten out of control in this country.”
The attack comes as ICE agents face what the White House describes as a 700 per cent increase in assaults since January. Trump administration officials pointed to inflammatory rhetoric from prominent Democrats, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz comparing ICE agents to the “modern-day Gestapo” and Representative Pramila Jayapal calling it “inspiring” to obstruct immigration enforcement.
“Governor Walz’s comments comparing ICE agents to the Gestapo is sickening,” said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “This type of rhetoric and demonisation of ICE officers has led to our officers facing a 413 per cent increase in assaults.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu had compared ICE agents to the neo-Nazi group NSC-131, whilst Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson accused “secret police” of “terrorising our communities. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stated ICE “should not exist”, and Senator Bernie Sanders urged people to “figure out a way to stop ICE from what they are doing as soon as possible.”
Attack Details Emerge
Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said officers quickly identified the shooter’s location atop a nearby office building, but by the time they reached him, Jahn had already died by suicide. The three gunshot victims, identified only as immigration detainees, were in a van in the sallyport when they were struck. One died from their injuries at Parkland Hospital.
Authorities later searched a Toyota at an office building near the ICE facility. The vehicle displayed a map of the United States with text reading “Radioactive fallout from nuclear detonations have passed over these areas more than 2x since 1951”. The car was cleared by the local bomb squad before investigators began their search.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted images of five bullet casings recovered at the scene, with one bearing the words “ANTI-ICE” written in blue ink. This was an attack on ICE law enforcement,” the Department of Homeland Security stated, noting shell casings were found with “anti-ICE messages on them.
Pattern of Violence Against Federal Agents
The Dallas shooting marks the latest in a series of attacks on immigration enforcement facilities this year. On 4 July, eleven leftist criminals ambushed officers at an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas, defacing vehicles with graffiti including “ICE pig” before opening fire and shooting one officer in the neck.
That same day, rioters assaulted federal agents at an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, with officers kicked, punched and targeted with an “incendiary device”. Three days later, a man unleashed dozens of rounds at a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, sending two police officers and a Border Patrol employee to hospital.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons confirmed Jahn was “known to law enforcement” and revealed he has a 24-hour security detail due to threats against his life. “I don’t live with my family because I don’t want them around danger as much as I can,” Lyons said on “The Charlie Kirk Show” shortly after the shooting.
Conflicting Accounts of Gunman’s Politics
Whilst family members insisted Jahn had no strong political views, others who knew him painted a different picture. A former Boy Scout troop member recalled Jahn expressing upset about how migrants were being treated several years ago during discussions about migrant caravans entering the United States.
“He was just upset about how people were not understanding people’s desperation to get out of bad situations and how immigration was being handled as a whole,” the troop member said, requesting anonymity for fear of harassment. However, he added that Jahn was “pretty against” gun violence, making the attack even more surprising.
Records show Jahn voted in the Democratic primary in March 2020 but hadn’t voted since then. He was registered as an independent in Oklahoma and last voted in the November general election. In 2017, he drove cross-country to work a minimum-wage job harvesting marijuana for several months at a legal cannabis farm in Washington state, living out of his car.
Trump Designates Antifa as Terrorist Organisation
In response to what he termed “radical left terrorism”, President Trump signed an executive order on Sunday designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organisation. The order, signed at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service in Arizona, directs federal agencies to investigate, disrupt and dismantle all illegal operations conducted by Antifa or those claiming to act on its behalf.
“I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump posted on Truth Social. The President also recommended that “those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.”
The designation comes despite legal experts noting there is no provision under US law allowing the government to designate domestic terrorist organisations. Antifa, short for “anti-fascists”, is not a structured group but rather an umbrella term for various hard-left activist groups opposing fascism and neo-Nazis.
Kirk Assassination Cited
Trump repeatedly linked the ICE shooting to the 10 September assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. The 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder was fatally shot by a sniper whilst speaking at a rally. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with his murder, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty.
During Kirk’s memorial in Arizona, Trump hailed him as a “great American hero” and “martyr”. The President said Kirk’s assassination and the ICE facility attack represent a pattern of “radical left political violence” that must be stopped.
“The obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop,” Vice President Vance stated. “I’m praying for everyone hurt in this attack and for their families.”
Security Measures Increased
The US Government has now instructed security around ICE facilities nationwide to be increased following the Dallas attack. Texas Governor Greg Abbott vowed that state agencies would continue to “arrest, detain, and deport any individuals in this country illegally, without interruption.”
The FBI is investigating the shooting as “an act of targeted violence”. Vance claimed there was additional evidence “that’s not yet public” proving the shooter was politically motivated, though he did not elaborate on the nature of this evidence.
As investigations continue, the attack has intensified debates over immigration enforcement and political rhetoric. With ICE agents facing unprecedented threats and violence, the administration is pushing for tougher measures against what it calls “radical left terrorism” whilst Democrats argue Trump’s own rhetoric has inflamed tensions.
The three detainees shot in Wednesday’s attack included at least one Mexican national, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. People detained at the facility have been moved to different Texas detention centres to complete processing whilst the Dallas field office remains an active crime scene.
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