The animosity toward our troops and federal law enforcement is at an all-time high.
We are seeing ICE agents attacked regularly, and the rhetoric being spewed over the National Guard pitching in to help with immigration and crime is not making servicemembers' lives any easier.
An incident just took place at Joint Base Andrews that got my ears up, and I think it could be a sign of things to come.
If you have been following the Trump administration's hardline stance on immigration, you already know that multiple officials have claimed that attacks against ICE agents are up by more than 1,000% over last year.
On July 4, there was an attack against federal officials in Texas in which more than a dozen people tried to ambush agents.
Several agents were assaulted in Illinois, and in that attack, local police were reportedly told to stand down and decline assistance.
And let’s not forget the recent attack in Nebraska, where an agent was slammed to the ground while trying to make an apprehension.
I believe most people on the right would agree that this wave of hostility stems in large part from the poison coming out of the mouths of Democrats.
Remember when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz characterized agents as a “modern-day Gestapo?"
How about when California Gov. Gavin Newsom called them Trump’s “secret police,” then told people they had the right to “push back” against agents who were simply trying to enforce the law?
The examples are endless, and things are only getting worse, with the media taking pains to primarily highlight the rare examples of people being swept up in immigration enforcement operations by mistake. It’s similar to how outlets portray police violence… they concentrate on the one arrest that goes bad rather than 15,000 in which everything was done by the book.
This latest incident, in my opinion, could have been a probe event, meaning that the perpetrators were looking to see what would happen if an attack was launched.
A suspicious package containing a mysterious powder was found at Joint Base Andrews, and those who came into contact with it or were nearby were sent to the hospital as a precautionary measure. All seven were medically cleared in the end, and base operations were not interrupted.
Even so, this just reminds me of what terrorists do as a way to check emergency responses in attack scenarios. Now they know what would happen and understand the potential flaws in their plan, so the question remains as to whether they will strike again or whether this was just some bad joke.
We also have to keep in mind that the base itself is where Air Force One parks when it is not in use, so there is a lot to digest here. I am someone who likes to look at the worst-case scenario out of caution, especially in cases such as this. I don’t mean to fearmonger; that is not my intention. But I would suggest that everyone keeps their guard up and stays sharp. I just don’t think we are done seeing these types of attacks yet.
