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Four suspected terror attacks have taken place in the United States since the Department of Homeland Security was defunded in a partial government shutdown last month, including one in the state of Michigan where Fox News Digital reached out to all the major Senate candidates if they support funding DHS.
Republican Mike Rogers, former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says he would be a “Yes” vote to re-open DHS and told Fox News Digital in an interview that “we needed all hands on deck” when the United States engaged in “defanging Iran” through military action and that a “life might depend on it.”
“This was an opportunity to have our law enforcement officers from immigration, from making sure that the Coast Guard’s up, the TSA is getting paid. This was an opportunity to stand up for America,” Rogers said. “It’s crazy to me that the Democrats just turned their back on safety and security of American citizens. They just turned their backs for some political purpose that they think is going to gain them votes in the fall. I’m disgusted by it. This is no time to play politics with people’s safety, and they’re doing it.”
Senate Democrats have voted four times over the past month to block Homeland Security funding because the bills include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Democrats say reforms are needed at those two DHS agencies following the fatal shootings earlier this year by federal immigration agents of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota who were protesting the Trump administration’s unprecedented illegal immigration crackdown.
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Two Democrats, Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Gary Peters, are currently representing the state of Michigan in the U.S. Senate and both have so far voiced opposition to re-opening DHS.
The three top Democrats running in the August 4 primary to replace the retiring Peters struck a different tone than Rogers when contacted by Fox News Digital about their support of funding DHS.
Progressive Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed by Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, did not specify how he would vote on DHS funding but told Fox News Digital that “if the Trump administration were serious about keeping Americans safe from terror, they would not be funding ICE at a level higher than the FBI, cutting counterterrorism funding, or keeping the FBI from informing local law enforcement about terror threats that emerge from their illegal and unjustified war.”
“Let’s not confuse issues.”
The other two top Democrats in the race, Mallory McMorrow and Haley Stevens, did not respond to requests for comment.
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On Thursday, as Democrats and Republicans clashed in Washington, D.C. over funding DHS, two separate attacks suspected of being related to terrorism or religious ideology occurred in the United States.
In Virginia, 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Army National Guard soldier convicted of supporting ISIS, reportedly shouted, “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire inside Old Dominion University, killing devoted ROTC instructor Lt. Col. Brandon Shah and injuring two others.
In Michigan, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, allegedly rammed his vehicle into Temple Israel, a large Reform synagogue in West Bloomfield, and opened fire at security guards with a rifle, authorities said. Armed security returned fire and shot him dead.
Those attacks came shortly after 53-year-old Senegal-born Ndiaga Diagne killed three people after allegedly opening fire outside a bar in Austin, Texas while wearing a shirt that said “property of Allah.”
Not long after that, in New York City, two suspects were arrested after allegedly throwing improvised explosive devices near Gracie Mansion during a protest, with one reportedly telling authorities he was inspired by ISIS.
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