‘An intolerable red line’: Apple drops tracking tool used by anti-ICE leftists
Software removed ‘amid a reported 1,000% rise in assaults against agents and the aftermath a shooting in Dallas that ended up leaving two detainees dead’
A popular leftist app used to track Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations has vanished from Apple’s app store amid an uptick in violence against federal authorities, including a recent deadly attack in Dallas.
ICEBlock is no longer available on Apple’s store at the time of writing, with ICEBlock’s developer announcing that it plans to “fight” the decision. The tech giant removed the app amid a reported 1,000% rise in assaults against ICE agents and the aftermath an anti-ICE shooting in Dallas that ended up leaving two detainees dead.
“We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “ICEBlock is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs, and violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed.”
“This Department of Justice will continue making every effort to protect our brave federal law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe,” Bondi continued.
A spokesperson for Apple did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF. ICEBlock also did not respond.
On Sept. 24, a shooter identified by authorities as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn fired multiple rounds atop a Dallas rooftop, with the purported intention of hitting ICE agents who were nearby and conducting enforcement activities. However, the gunman ended up shooting three detainees before taking his own life. Two detainees died as a result of the attack.
FBI Director Kash Patel later revealed that the suspected killer downloaded a document listing the location of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facilities, searched for apps that tracked immigration agents and left behind a handwritten note indicating his intention to attack agents. A photograph of the crime scene showed the words “ANTI-ICE” scribbled on a bullet casing.
Which ICE tracking apps Jahn used remain unclear. Federal prosecutors have not publicly specified.
The Trump administration has been highly critical of ICE tracking apps since their popularization, arguing that they place immigration agents at increased risk. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons in June publicly ripped CNN for promoting ICEBlock, claiming the app “basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs” at a time when his agents are already facing an all-time high in assaults.
“ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs and violent criminal rings,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told DCNF. “But, of course, the media spins this correct decision for Apple to remove these apps as them caving to pressure instead of preventing further bloodshed and stopping law enforcement from getting killed.”
Joshua Aaron, the developer behind ICEBlock, identifies himself as a supporter of Black Lives Matter — a movement long plagued with allegations of financial mismanagement — and “Proud #Antifa” on his Bluesky account. A DCNF review of Aaron’s X account identified repeated instances in which he praised and defended Antifa.
“We just received a message from Apple’s App Review that #ICEBlock has been removed from the App Store due to ‘objectionable content,'” the developer stated on Bluesky, a social media app that’s popular with liberals. “The only thing we can imagine is this is due to pressure from the Trump Admin.”
“We have responded and we’ll fight this! #resist,” the statement continued.
