Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons returned to the press conference on Operation Patriot when a reporter asked why ICE agents wear masks:
“I’m going to answer the mask question. So, no, no, not the mask, the line about the mask. So, a lot of agencies were invited to come out two weeks ago in Los Angeles where we ran an operation where ICE officers were doxxed. So let’s just say that again: People are out there taking photos of the names, their faces, and posting them online with death threats to their family and themselves. So, I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to 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. They are wearing those masks because we ran an operation with the Secret Service where we arrested someone who was going online, taking their photos, posting their families, their kids’ Instagrams, their kids’ Facebooks, and targeting them. So let me ask, is that the issue here, that we’re just upset about the masks? Or is anyone upset with the fact that ICE officers’ families were labeled terrorists?”