❓WHAT HAPPENED: Philadelphia District Attorney (DA) Larry Krasner (D) compared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to “wannabe Nazis” during a rally and threatened legal action against them.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Larry Krasner, other progressive prosecutors such as Mary Moriarty, and ICE agents.
📍WHEN & WHERE: During a rally on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
💬KEY QUOTE: “If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities; we will find you; we will achieve justice.” – Larry Krasner
🎯IMPACT: Krasner’s rhetoric has drawn criticism for its inflammatory nature.
Philadelphia District Attorney (DA) Larry Krasner (D) sparked outrage Tuesday with a speech attacking federal immigration enforcement, smearing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as “wannabe Nazis” and vowing to wage a lawfare campaign against them. “If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities; we will find you; we will achieve justic … under the Constitution and the laws of the United States,” Krasner said, stating that federal officers are not immune from homicide charges even after leaving office. He also said he is working with other progressive prosecutors, including Minneapolis’ Mary Moriarty, to hold federal agents accountable at the state level.
Krasner, a far-left prosecutor backed by billionaire George Soros, has long been a lightning rod for controversy. Since taking office in 2018, he has implemented sweeping progressive reforms, including ending cash bail for some offenses and reducing prosecutions. Republican critics say those policies contributed to a dramatic surge in violent crime, with Philadelphia homicides hitting a record 562 in 2021, although they later fell to a 20-year low by 2024. Krasner was impeached by the Pennsylvania House in 2022 over allegations of “purposeful ineffectiveness,” but he remains in office, dismissing the effort as an attack on “black, brown, and broke” voters.
Krasner’s rhetoric comes amid nationwide tension over ICE enforcement. Some Democratic officials have made highly controversial statements regarding the agency. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes suggested that under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law, citizens could legally shoot masked ICE agents if they felt threatened. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, similarly to Krasner, compared illegal immigrants and ICE to Anne Frank and the Nazis hunting her.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.