Trump administration condemns CT's John Larson, other Democrats over ICE remarks: 'Badge of honor'
The Trump administration this week condemned a group of prominent Democrats, including U.S. Rep. John Larson of Connecticut, over remarks it said unfairly targeted the president and federal immigration authorities.
In a news release Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security called on "media, leftist groups and sanctuary politicians" to end what it called "hateful rhetoric" against President Donald Trump, his supporters and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing that such language was fueling political violence and assaults on ICE agents.
“This demonization is inspiring violence across the country," Tricia McLaughlin, DHS' assistant secretary, said in a statement. "Our ICE officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them. We have to turn down the temperature before someone else is killed. This violence must end.”
The agency named more than a dozen left-leaning politicians and other groups it accused of making controversial comments in recent months, attaching links to news clips as evidence. Among those on the list was Larson,D-1st District, citing remarks he made during a rally in Newington last month to oppose the arrest of seven people by masked ICE agents at a local car wash.
“This is not Germany. That is the SS and the Gestapo," Larson said. "This is the United States of America. Unmask yourselves.”
Others named in the DHS release were U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and the mayors of Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. The agency also singled out the American Civil Liberties Union and users of the social media platform TikTok.
Standing alongside Jeffries and Crockett on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday afternoon, Larson called the federal government's rebuke a "badge of honor."
“I am proud and honored to stand with my colleagues and be singled out by President Trump and his minions for standing up for the people in this country who this administration has gone after," Larson said.
During Trump's second term, ICE has ramped up arrests, including in Connecticut, where agents have detained car wash workers, high school students and a mother taking her children to school. The arrests have sparked statewide protests and fierce pushback from advocates, lawmakers and other officials, who have decried what they called ICE's "abusive" and "authoritarian" tactics and demanded that agents remove their facemasks.
ICE, however, says that some officials' rhetoric has crossed the line and fueled a surge in violence against its agents. In its release, the DHS cited several incidents during which ICE officers were either attacked or threatened.
In a statement, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called the DHS report "reckless," saying that "this kind of irresponsible tagging of political enemies needs to stop before someone else is shot."
"We have to do better," Tong added. "But if I know one thing about John Larson, he will not be silenced. He’s going to keep speaking up — loudly — to call out wrongs when they occur, to defend our rights and our democracy, and to protect Connecticut families. And he’s going to do that with his voice and his votes, and it is incumbent upon all of us to see and know the difference between forceful and necessary democratic protest and bloodshed."
Larson, who is seeking a 15th term in Congress next year, has clashed with the Trump administration before. In March, he accused Elon Musk, then an adviser to the president, of trying to undermine Social Security through his cost-cutting work with the Department of Government Efficiency.