JUST IN: Washington ICE Office Targeted In Arson Attack

Federal immigration authorities escaped an arson attack at their office in Yakima, Washington over the weekend, according to statements from federal officials. The attack marks the latest violent assault on ICE agents after a group of heavily-armed leftist militants attempted to draw agents out of a Texas facility in an “ambush-style” attack last month.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, a currently unidentified assault first threw a rock through a window of the building, which is listed as a field office. The suspect then set a fire in the back of the property this past Saturday, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the New York Post.

Photos taken before the fire spread show flames charring the glass behind a chain link fence surrounding the building, while a thick cloud of black smoke could be seen billowing above. There were no injuries reported as a result of the incident.

McLaughlin noted that it is not yet confirmed whether the site was deliberately targeted in a firebombing, as the investigation is ongoing. She did note, however, that the building has public signage identifying it as a Department of Homeland Security office.

The complex, located about 140 miles southeast of Seattle, also houses a Washington state Department of Social and Health Services office. McLaughlin further noted that assaults on ICE personnel have surged by 830 percent in the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term. A number of attacks have taken place in Seattle, where armed, Antifa-linked militants have surrounded and stormed federal buildings with minimal interference from the local police department.

“Make no mistake, Democrat politicians like [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries, Mayor [Michelle] Wu of Boston, [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz, and Mayor [Karen] Bass of Los Angeles are contributing to the surge in assaults of our ICE officers through their repeated vilification and demonization of ICE,” McLaughlin told the New York Post.

“From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi Gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale,” she added.

The latest suspected attack comes just weeks after at least 10 far-left extremists were arrested on attempted murder charges after surrounding an ICE facility in North Texas. They then proceeded to set off fireworks and other disturbances in an effort to lure agents outside, where other militants positioned in a wooded area outside the building were waiting to initiate an ambush.

One local police officer was shot in the neck when responding to the scene, at which point the group scattered. Several arrests were made over the next several hours, as police recovered several firearms, tactical masks, body armor, two-way radios, “insurrectionist material” and more.

“We’re here to tell you that late at night on July 4th, Friday night at approximately 10.37pm at the Prairieland Ice Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, 10 to 12 individuals dressed in black military-style clothing began shooting fireworks and engaging in acts of vandalism at the facility,” acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson told reporters at a press conference.