Jerry Nadler Says People Feel Justified Shooting ICE Agents Because They’re ‘Masked Hoodlums’

New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler claimed Tuesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are “morons” who people are “justified” to shoot during a rant during a hearing.

ICE has come under fire following the January fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in the Minneapolis-St. Paul in incidents involving so-called “rapid response” groups attempting to obstruct immigration control operations. Nadler claimed during a House Judiciary Committee review of legislation banning biological males from competing in women’s sports and a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that “fascism in our streets” was the “major problem” facing the United States. (RELATED: Anti-ICE rioters feel emboldened after Border Patrol chief’s ouster, DCNF reporter says)

“But the real major problem in this country today is fascism in our streets,” Nadler said. “Attacks on American citizens by masked thugs. If you were attacked by a masked person, you might think you were being kidnapped, you would be justified in shooting the person to protect yourself, but we see people getting shot for what? For driving a car.”

WATCH:

“We see people, we see ICE goons breaking into people’s homes without a warrant,” Nadler continued. “We see them dragging a man, an American citizen, in his underwear… without even allowing him to get dressed. This is the major problem we face today.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Cellphone video taken by the ICE agent who fired the fatal shots at Good on Jan. 7 shows her apparently ignoring commands from other ICE agents before reversing, looking straight at the agent and accelerating toward him after his girlfriend appeared to yell, “Drive, baby, drive!”

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota called ICE “Trump’s modern Gestapo” during a May 17 commencement speech at the University of Minnesota, while Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas compared the agency to “slave patrols” during a Sept. 12 appearance on “The Breakfast Club.” In January, a TikTok user called for killing ICE agents.

Border czar Tom Homan told reporters at a May 2025 press conference that assaults on ICE agents were increasing and that “doxxing” of agents had reached “an unprecedented level.” Attacks against ICE agents skyrocketed 1,300 percent, according to a Jan. 8 Department of Homeland Security statement, with vehicular assaults up 3,200 percent and death threats targeting agents up 8,000 percent.

Incidents of resistance to ICE enforcement operations have sometimes resulted in violence. For example, agents came under fire in Illinois and California, while ICE personnel were allegedly attacked by individuals using vehicles in ten separate incidents between January 4 and 10, according to Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. (RELATED: Anti-ICE rioter bites federal officer’s finger during chaos in Minneapolis)

On September 26, the Department of Homeland Security posted information on X regarding multiple violent attacks at an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. In Portland, Oregon, reports indicate that violent protesters attacked conservative journalists covering local riots and intended to use lasers against aircraft operated by federal law enforcement.

Additionally, two people lost their lives in a shooting at an ICE office in Dallas on September 24, after which the shooter committed suicide. In Texas, at least two previous incidents occurred in July in which gunfire was directed at ICE or Border Patrol facilities.

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