Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is taking a strong stand to protect federal law enforcement officers from the dangerous and growing threat of doxxing— publicly revealing someone’s private or personal information online. Her new legislation aims to safeguard the privacy and safety of those who put their lives on the line to keep Americans safe by making it a federal crime to publish their personal information online maliciously. This comes as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have increasingly been targeted by anti-ICE activists who have escalated their efforts to disrupt immigration enforcement and intimidate law enforcement officers.
The Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act would make it illegal to dox federal law enforcement officials, which puts them at a higher risk of being targeted by criminal gangs such as MS-13 and Tren De Aragua. Those caught violating the law would face a fine and/or imprisonment of five years.
Blackburn criticized mayors in Democratic-led cities for obstructing the Trump administration’s efforts to deport criminal illegal immigrants. She pointed out that Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office recently doxxed federal law enforcement officers involved in arrests by publicly releasing the names of law enforcement officers who were conducting immigration enforcement.
O’Connell publicly disclosed ICE operations, including the names of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officials, claiming it was done to "be transparent” with the public.
Recently, I reported that ICE agents wore masks during operations. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons explained that this is due to individuals photographing agents’ names and faces, then posting them online with death threats against their families.
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“People are out there taking photos of the names and their faces and posting them online with death threats to their family,” Lyons said. “I’m sorry that people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not gonna let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and their families on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is.”
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