"Leavitt advances several dangerous claims at once: that ICE should be treated as ordinary law enforcement, that there exists a vague and shadowy "left-wing" plot against officers, and that shooting civilians can be justified if it is rhetorically attached to that fiction. Vice President JD Vance has already encouraged ICE agents to push their limits, while President Donald Trump has offered demonstrably false stories about the danger those agents supposedly faced."
The thing to keep in mind is that those claims have been circulating in mainstream conservative media all the while. These administration speakers are merely latching onto popular conservative ideas.
They are following, as they often are, not leading. It's a symptom, not a cause.
These dangerous claims are coming from the grassroots, in other words. It's really important to recognize that the problem is out there in the public, not coming top down from any individual officials.
