The Daily Populous Tuesday July 21st, 2026 night edition
Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by no_technique

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U.S. federal agents have been told in recent days the FBI would no longer investigate shootings involving immigration agents, according to a New York Times report.

Such investigations – though intended to determine whether Department of Homeland Security agents were attacked – sometimes yield evidence implicating such agents in violent encounters, people briefed on the decision told the Times.

The change follows two fatal shootings by ICE agents in Texas and Maine in the last two weeks, sparking renewed pressure on the Trump administration and public scrutiny of the agency’s practices.

On Thursday, FBI managers around the U.S. received a written notice informing them the bureau would no longer investigate claims of assaults made against Department of Homeland Security agents, according to the people reportedly familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Some ICE agents around the country reprtedly have been informed of the change by their FBI counterparts, which would mean investigations would be done internally.

open image in gallery On 7 July, 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, was shot and killed by a United States ICE officers in Houston. ( Reuters )

A joint statement by the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, however, denied such a change had been implemented.

“The relationship between D.H.S. and D.O.J. in investigating assault on federal officer cases has not changed, and F.B.I. will continue to investigate in accordance with agency policy,” the statement said.

“This administration has been clear, anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” it added.

According to guidance circulated among FBI and ICE agents, the change would likely leave Homeland Security Investigations – an arm of ICE – to investigate cases involving same agency’s officers.

Over the past year, amid growing public opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, White House and Justice Department officials have urged prosecutors to bring charges against as many cases of assault on federal officers as possible.

open image in gallery ICE agents face off with protesters outside of the Delaney Hall Immigration Detention Center in Newark, June 7, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. ( Getty )

Federal law allows for felony charges to brought against anyone who “forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates or interferes” with a federal law enforcement officer.

Trump administration officials have argued such legislation means anyone who makes physical contact with an agent should be charged with felony assault, a crime punishable by eight years in prison.

“It’s abhorrent to ever, ever touch a law enforcement officer, which is why anytime anybody does that and it’s a federal officer, we’ll prosecute them,” the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, told CNN in May.

Deaths in ICE custody have also motivated public concern. Such deaths have soared to 52 during the first 500 days of Trump’s second administration, with the most deadly pre-January 2025 month of the last decade (May 2020) exceeded five times since Trump returned to office, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

pormiscompas on July 20th, 2026 at 15:50 UTC »

The FBI has become a joke of an organization.

ruminaui on July 20th, 2026 at 15:45 UTC »

I mean they kind of weren't in the first place, and were just obstructing state investigators and withholding evidence. At least know they can't do that.

MikeOKurias on July 20th, 2026 at 15:39 UTC »

Morons elected a criminal so they could be openly racist in public, what did we think was going to happen?

This is just the beginning - he already said on national television that if his team doesn't win it means the Democrats cheated and the elections will be ignored.