What to know about the Dallas ICE detention center shooter and victims
New details have emerged about the suspect and victims in the Dallas ICE detention center shooting. At least one of the victims was a Mexican national.
The alleged shooter who killed one detainee and injured two others at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Sept. 24 had previously used a popular app that flags sightings of immigration officers, authorties said.
White House Press Secretary Leavitt criticized the app, ICEBlock, tying it to the “leftist lunatic shooter” in Dallas. FBI Director Kash Patel released details about the shooter’s Internet history, including using “apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents,” without naming ICEBlock.
ICEBlock’s developer, Joshua Allen, defended the service in an interview with USA TODAY the day after the shooting. He said the theory that reported sightings of ICE officers led directly to this week’s shooting was far flung.
“Somebody would have to see the enforcement action, be within 5 miles of the report and then somehow say, OK, now they’re done so they’ll be back to the booking facility soon,” Allen said. “This is insanity.”
Allen said reported ICE activity sightings are purged every four hours and that no predictive analytics are performed to anticipate ICE movements. The app is anonymous and does not track logins. As of this month the app has 1.1 million active users, Allen said. He cited case law upholding the legality of the Waze app, which flags speeding enforcement by police.
Allen said he’s yet to receive any communication from the government.
“I have an amazing legal team, and it makes no sense for them to try to do anything to shut it down,” Allen said. “So that leaves them with these performative statements and trying to bully me.”
ICEBlock is a dangerous development for officers, said Marcos Charles, acting executive associate director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations at a press conference in Dallas Sept. 25.
“It’s a casting call to invite bad actors to attack law enforcement officers,” Charles said. “It’s no different than giving the hitman the location of their intended target and this is exactly what we saw happen in Dallas yesterday.”
Charles also blamed the media for “amplifying these apps” he said would lead to violent attacks.
“We truly wish we didn’t have to say we told you so, but here we are,” Charles said.