Leftist Insurrection Raises Risk of Civil War

From attacks on Tesla dealerships, and violent anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, and elsewhere, to shooting cops, ambushing ICE officers, and trying to kill Trump, the left’s insurrection against the federal government appears to be escalating.

President Trump’s firm law enforcement actions may be dampening it somewhat. At least for now. But expect it to ramp up at anytime.

Especially as Democrat politicians and activists keep inciting the violence.

Charles Marino, a former senior adviser to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Trump’s first term, told Newsmax:

The rhetoric from the left brings out the crazies — it’s as simple as this. We saw it during the assassination attempts on President Trump, where this rhetoric about him being a threat to democracy brought out people that wanted to do him significant harm and take him out of the picture, and it continues here now against law enforcement.

Leftist terrorists have ambushed and shot Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agents twice in recent days. Both incidents occurred in Texas.

In the biggest recent ambush, one police officer was shot, 10 black-clad terrorists were arrested after they opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on the Fourth of July.

The group of about 15 allegedly began their assault by shooting incendiary fireworks at the facility, used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to hold illegal aliens and those awaiting deportation.

The terror suspects are being charged with attempted murder and firearm violations. AR-15 rifles and 12 sets of body armor were confiscated at the crime scene. The suspects wore “military-style clothing,” some wore body armor, some were armed, and some had two-way radios.

WATCH VIDEO

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6375390470112

They far left ideology was clearly on display. Flyers found in their possession said, “FIGHT ICE TERROR WITH CLASS WAR!” and “FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS.” A flag was found with an image of a raised, clenched fist that read, “RESIST FASCISM – FIGHT OLIGARCHY.”

Flyers reading, “Organising for Attack! Insurrectionary Anarchy,” were reportedly found at the home of one of the suspects.

Radical socialist groups are also behind much of the violent rhetoric.

In a separate attack, a man in a “utility vest” and armed with a semi-automatic rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents and a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border.

A police officer was injured before cops shot and killed the assailant.

Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, An ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, nearly two dozen people have been arrested since June, after repeated attacks by violent leftist mobs.

Another four suspects were arrested for allegedly targeting the facility on the Fourth of July, and assaulting officers and committing sabotage at the building, according to Oregon Live.

One suspect launched an incendiary device that exploded near federal officers outside the facility. Another used bolt cutters while attempting to sabotage electronics and communications leading into the building.

In March, a fire damaged the entryway to the New Mexico Republican Party headquarters and was being investigated as arson. Incendiary materials were found on the scene and spray paint on the side of the building read “ICE=KKK.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the Justice Department was “closely monitoring the attacks on DHS detention facilities in Prairieland, TX, and Portland, OR, and are coordinating with the USAOs and our law enforcement partners.”

On X he said, “The Department has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible.”

And justifiably so, the White House on Wednesday accused Democrats of inciting the violence against ICE agents.

“As ICE agents risk their lives to secure our borders and protect our communities, they’re facing a 700% surge in assaults — a direct consequence of dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric from Democrat politicians,” the White House said in a document titled “Democrats Inspire Vicious, Escalating Attacks on ICE.”

The document also listed examples of “unhinged Democrats inciting rhetoric and lies.” Prominent examples include:

· House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries implored people to “fight” the Trump administration “in the streets.”

· Rep. Pramila Jayapal, called ICE agents “deranged” and said it is “inspiring” to obstruct immigration enforcement.

· Rep. LaMonica McIver — who was recently arrested and charged with “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers” outside an ICE detention facility — incited her supporters to “shut down the city” because “we are at war.”

· Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ 2024 running mate, called ICE agents the “modern-day gestapo.”

· Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson accused ICE of being a “secret police” that is “terrorizing our communities.”

· Rep. Eric Swalwell idiotically compared federal immigration officers to “some 1800s bank robber or some KGB officer in Russia.”

Yes, these are all clear examples of prominent Democrats vilifying law enforcement and inciting violence against federal immigration enforcement officers, and the local cops and Guard and active troops protecting them.

These Democrats too should be held accountable.

But the danger of leftist violence is bigger than just ICE and immigration enforcement. It is now big enough that mainstream news media are reporting on it and noting how the media has historically downplayed it while hyping the right wing threat.

“America on Edge: The Fight at Home” is a gripping documentary that delves into the escalating political violence across the United States.

The film traces a pattern of unrest, extremism, and ideological hatred that is reshaping the nation. It highlights incidents such as the shocking assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, the targeted killing of a prominent healthcare CEO, and a disturbing surge in violent anti-Semitic attacks.

In June Newsweek reported:

‘Assassination Culture’

While right-wing extremism is regularly dissected and denounced in mainstream media, conservatives have long complained that political violence from the left regularly receives less scrutiny—or is reframed entirely to dismiss the perpetrators’ progressive views. This perceived imbalance has fueled a growing belief, often discussed on conservative subreddits, in right-leaning Substacks, and on X, that left-wing violence is minimized or rationalized, while right-wing violence is amplified and condemned.

The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), a nonpartisan organization that studies the spread of hate, manipulation, and extremism across digital platforms, has raised these concerns recently. Based at Rutgers University, the group uses machine learning and data analytics to identify emerging threats and ideological patterns online.

“We’re witnessing the alarming rise of what the NCRI calls an ‘assassination culture,'” said Max Horder of the NCRI, in an interview with Newsweek. “Violence targeting figures like Donald Trump or Elon Musk has gone beyond normalization—it’s being sanctified as resistance by parts of the political left.”

Newsweek continues:

The imagery and meme-ification of Luigi Mangione is one such example. Mangione, currently jailed pending his capital murder trial, has become an anti-hero in niche online communities. His likeness is shared alongside memes depicting Nintendo’s Luigi character as a stylized assassin—ironic, cartoonish, but deadly serious.

“It looks like a joke,” Horder said, linking Mangione’s online fame to a pattern of other real-world incidents, including the recent firebombing of elderly Jewish protesters in Boulder, Colo., allegedly by an Egyptian national angry about the war in Gaza. “But it’s not. It’s a method of radicalization wrapped in humor.”

Gaza Conflict and Domestic Spillover

Just days before the antisemitic attack in Boulder, two Israeli embassy staffers were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., in a targeted attack that resembled the style of the ambush on Thompson. According to law enforcement, the suspected gunman, Elias Rodriguez, stalked the two young diplomats after they departed an event. Upon arrest, told officers, “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza.”

“This targeting and outright murder of two people is very much an escalation from traditional left-aligned protest tactics,” said Katherine Keneally, director of threat analysis at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a nonprofit that monitors extremism and terrorism, to NPR. “Trends are changing.”

Also in June a Jewish lawmaker in Ohio reported that he was “run off the road” by a man who waved a Palestinian flag at him.

Peter Turchin, a University of Connecticut professor and leading theorist of structural-demographic cycles, sees the current moment as part of a predictable historical pattern.

“In 2010, I predicted a period of political instability beginning in the 2020s,” Turchin told Newsweek. “And nearly every warning sign—popular immiseration, elite overproduction, eroding state capacity—has only intensified.”

More than 9,000 threats have been made against members of Congress this year—a “huge increase,” according to officials. And the threats target both sides of the aisle.

Meanwhile, right wing violence is growing as well.

In April a man scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and set fire to the Pennsylvania Democrat governor’s mansion.

In late June, a man disguised as a police officer attacked two Democratic legislators at their homes in Minnesota, killing a state representative and her husband, and wounding another lawmaker and his wife. The alleged murderer was planning further attacks on local politicians and abortion rights advocates.

The same day, during national “No Kings” demonstrations against the Trump administration, there was a spate of other violence or near-violence across the US.

After a man with a rifle allegedly charged at protesters in Utah, an armed “safety volunteer” associated with the protest fired at the man, wounding him and killing a bystander. When protesters in California surrounded a car, the driver sped over a protester’s leg. And a man was arrested in Arizona after brandishing a handgun at protesters.

Police in New York also said they were investigating anti-Muslim threats to the mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

The political temperature is dangerously high – and shows few signs of cooling.

Paul Crespo is the President of the Center for American Defense Studies, Managing Editor of American Liberty Defense News, and Managing Partner of SPECTRE Global Risk. As a Marine Corps officer, he led Marines, served aboard ships in the Pacific and jumped from helicopters and airplanes.

He was also a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at U.S. embassies worldwide.

He later ran for congress, taught political science, wrote for a major newspaper and co-hosted his own radio show. A graduate of Georgetown, London and Cambridge universities, he brings decades of experience and insight to the issues that most threaten our American liberty – at home and abroad.