A man was arrested in Dallas Monday night after he allegedly walked to an entrance of an ICE facility and told officials he had a bomb in his backpack, the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release Tuesday.
Bratton Dean Wilkinson, a 35-year-old US citizen, arrived at the entrance of the Dallas Field office at 6:37 p.m. local time, showing a security officer a device on his wrist he claimed was a detonator, DHS said. The location houses the Dallas Field office and Enforcement and Removal Operations, they said.
A shelter-in-place was issued for the facility and local police responded with a bomb squad, which was able to clear the scene about 30 minutes later, they said.
Wilkinson was taken into custody by local law enforcement and charged with making terroristic threats, DHS said. The Dallas Police Department confirmed it responded to the incident, and said Wilkinson was charged with a Class A misdemeanor false reporting to induce emergency response. CNN is working to identify if he has an attorney.
The arrest comes as public attacks have risen against the agency and its agents as they face continued backlash to the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. The escalation in attacks has prompted a heavier security presence in front of DHS facilities, especially after attacks in Fort Worth and McAllen, Texas.
In recent weeks, a New York ICE office was sent a white powder, and a man in San Francisco was arrested for assaults and destruction of federal property while agents were conducting immigration enforcement, the agency said.
“These incidents come after months of smears and rhetoric by activists, politicians, and the media comparing ICE law enforcement to the Nazi Gestapo, kidnappers, and the Secret Police,” a senior DHS official said in a statement. “This shameful rhetoric has fueled a culture of hate against law enforcement resulting in a 1,000 percent increase in assaults against them. All sanctuary politicians, activists, and the media need to turn down their temperature.”
The DHS has previously warned of dramatic spikes in assaults, saying in May attacks against officers had risen to over 400%, and then up to 800% in July, with the agency now reporting a 1,000% increase.
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