Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on Monday defended his agency’s use of body armor and long guns in Chicago after Mayor Brandon Johnson publicly questioned why federal agents are patrolling the city’s streets so heavily armed.
In an appearance on Newsmax, Lyons reacted to comments made by Johnson earlier Monday: “What could you possibly need an automatic weapon for?” the mayor directed to ICE agents. “The only plausible explanation is to … strike fear in our communities.”
Not so, Lyons said on “Rob Schmitt Tonight.”
“To hear the mayor ask why we need assault weapons or, you know, we walk in the streets in body armor and helmets,” Lyons said. “Well, the protest at the ICE facility up there in Chicago, just in the past 48 hours, we’ve had so many protest arrests, we took four guns off the individuals that were there protesting. So are they really there peacefully? Why do we need a gun if you’re going to be out there peacefully protesting?”
Lyons added that the agency’s posture stems from a wave of violent incidents targeting ICE officers nationwide.
“[Johnson] wonders why we have automatic weapons or assault weapons, as he says,” Lyons continued. “I just returned from Dallas seeing our men and women down there that came under attack from sniper fire. So I think they know why we have to protect ourselves. It’s because of their rhetoric and some of the hatred towards ICE that we have to take all precautions now.”
Lyons criticized Democrat officials for inflaming anti-ICE sentiment, pointing to comments from California’s governor urging residents to “push back” against ICE the night before the Dallas sniper attack, and remarks from a congressional minority leader encouraging activists to “dox” ICE personnel.
“You talk about people wearing masks … these are people with families and their families are being doxed. It’s not safe,” Lyons said.
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