DHS Keeps Changing Its Story on ICE Attacks. Here's Why You Should Be Skeptical
413%, 500%, 700%, It's clear that we cannot trust the Department of Homeland Security's number
First it was a 413% increase. Then 500%. Now DHS says there's been a 700% surge in assaults on ICE agents. These aren't just numbers pulled from thin air, they're pulled from somewhere worse; a coordinated campaign to turn public dissent into a threat narrative. And the same article that made the 700% claim also falsely accused us at the Crustian Daily of inciting violence. That’s no coincidence, they are making up numbers, while choosing their enemies.
Where These Numbers Came From
In May 2025, DHS claimed assaults were up 413%. No data was provided, just a number.
In June, they bumped it to 500%. Still no clarity on what qualifies as an assault.
By July, they said it was a 700% increase. This time they cited 79 assaults in the first half of 2025 compared to 10 the year before.
The math checks out, the logic doesn’t. DHS still hasn’t said what these 79 assaults are. Are they physical attacks? Verbal arguments? Someone shouting at a van? Until they release specifics, these numbers are meaningless.
The rise in assault claims lines up perfectly with rising protest against ICE, people blocking deportation vans, online campaigns exposing ICE personnel, the public has turned against them, so DHS is reframing criticism as violence.
This is how you justify more surveillance and secrecy. Not through facts, but by inventing a threat and repeating it until the media runs with it.
They Lied About Us
In that same July press push, DHS falsely accused me of harassment. No evidence. No outreach. Just a convenient lie. I wasn’t mentioned because I posed a threat—I was mentioned because I’m effective. The DHS doesn’t like people who expose them, so they label them dangerous. It’s lazy, but it works if no one challenges it.
If they’ll lie about me, why wouldn’t they lie about a supposed assault? If they’re inflating charges or counting peaceful resistance as violence, that 700% number is fiction designed to scare people into silence.
DHS has done this before. They refuse to give public data, deny FOIA requests, and hand-pick the press to run their stories. The few outlets that challenge them, like the Washington Post and The Guardian, have pointed out the same thing: DHS doesn’t define “assault,” and the bar for being labeled a threat is comically low.
Filming an agent? Assault.
Standing in front of a van? Assault.
Posting their name online? Threat.
This isn’t law enforcement. It’s narrative control.
So What’s the Truth?
We don’t know, because DHS won’t release the data. If there really were dozens of serious attacks on agents, they should have no problem showing the evidence. Who was assaulted? Where? Was it reported to police? Were there charges?
Without that, this is propaganda, and dangerous propaganda at that. The goal is to criminalize protest, to make every critic seem like a threat, and to give themselves cover to keep acting without oversight.
If we don’t call this out, they’ll keep doing it. They’ll keep shifting the numbers to match the story they want to tell. They’ll keep naming their critics as violent actors. And they’ll keep expanding their powers under the excuse of keeping agents safe.
This isn’t about safety, it’s about silence.