Former FBI Official Says Left-Wing Terror Will Continue Unless ICE 'Changes Tactics’

Former Senior Executive (SES) FBI agent Christopher O’Leary, whose two-decade career focused on counterterrorism probes for the bureau, appeared blame Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for inviting attacks against its officers – urging the agency to overhaul its enforcement strategies such as 'wearing masks’ (a nod to California) – to curb violence from radical leftwing extremists.

During an appearance on MSNBC’s „Katy Tur Reports” Wednesday, O’Leary weighed in on the brazen shooting at an ICE facility in Texas, conceding that overheated rhetoric should be dialed back while shockingly pinning the blame on ICE’s own playbook.

Former FBI agent Christopher O’Leary is on MSNBC telling Trump to bend the knee and stop the deportations of people here illegally, or the attacks will not only continue, but they will escalate. pic.twitter.com/TlqR9PbnBx

— Gunther Eagleman (@GuntherEagleman) September 24, 2025

“You also have to start looking at what policies you’ve implemented and what tactics you’re using, because, if you tone down the rhetoric, but you leave those other pieces in place, nothing’s going to change,” O’Leary, who now is a MSNBC analyst, told Tur.

„Terrorism is theater. It’s intended to influence an audience beyond its immediate victims,” O’Leary said. „It’s putting a message out, and terrorism falls into really three categories: It’s either religiously motivated, ideologically motivated, or, in this case, politically motivated.

„The politically motivated ones, it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens because conditions have been set that people start acting out against,” he added.

The former FBI agent doubled down, seemingly painting ICE as the villain in a narrative straight out of the progressive grievance handbook: “Distrust in institutions – that’s been building for quite some time – attacks on institutions, the wealth gap, oppressive policies – at least this is what people perceive – and then the militarization of ICE and other federal law enforcement, the wearing of the masks, the aggressive tactics. So, the people who are starting to act out against this feel it’s their only recourse.”

Related: DHS told California to pound sand over a new law banning federal immigration agents and other law enforcement personnel from wearing face masks while on duty.

„Again, this is predictable. We see this happening throughout our history and in other places as well. So, we can tone down the rhetoric, and that’s the right message,” O’Leary added. „But you also have to start looking at what policies you’ve implemented and what tactics you’re using, because, if you tone down the rhetoric, but you leave those other pieces in place, nothing’s going to change.”

ICE is still reeling after 29-year-old gunman Joshua Jahn allegedly unleashed a hail of bullets on a Dallas ICE facility early Wednesday morning, killing one detainee and leaving two others in critical condition before cowardly taking his own life.

Officials confirmed the shooter scrawled „ANTI-ICE” on an unused bullet, a chilling manifesto of hatred against agents enforcing America’s immigration laws.

Miraculously, no ICE officers were harmed in the indiscriminate attack, which acting ICE Director Todd Lyons slammed as a direct assault on federal personnel risking their lives to protect the homeland.

„Seeing the photos today, some of the bullets were in an office that I used to have there,” Lyons said. „It’s just a horrible feeling. People always ask me what’s the thing that keeps me up at night. It’s the safety of the men and women of ICE. My heart goes out to that detainee’s family. We’re charged with their protection, their custody. Nothing like that should happen.”

In response to the shooting, President Donald Trump announced that he is readying an Executive Order to expand targeting of domestic terror groups.

„The continuing violence from Radical Left Terrorists, in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, must be stopped. ICE Officers, and other Brave Members of Law Enforcement, are under grave threat,” Trump wrote in a statement. „We have already declared ANTIFA a Terrorist Organization, and I will be signing an Executive Order this week to dismantle these Domestic Terrorism Networks.”

* * * Pardon the interruption, but…