Overview
- At a Turning Point USA event at the University of Texas at El Paso on Dec. 4, White House border czar Tom Homan answered shouts of “racist” and “traitor” by telling a heckler to “grow a backbone” and to “put a Kevlar vest and a gun on your hip and go secure this border.”
- During a later Q&A, a protester alleged Homan’s statements fed the white‑supremacist Great Replacement narrative and claimed they helped inspire Walmart gunman Patrick Crusius.
- Crusius pleaded guilty to federal and state charges for the 2019 El Paso attack that killed 23 people, received multiple life sentences, and wrote a manifesto echoing Great Replacement themes.
- Homan defended his position by saying the “open border” was “by design,” a claim he has made before while acknowledging in a congressional hearing that he lacks evidence to prove intent.
- DHS has reported assaults on ICE agents have surged by about 1,150% since President Trump reentered office, according to the Daily Caller’s summary of department data.