Already, since Sept. 1, 2025,
ICE has spent nearly $8 million on new equipment
— including simulation rounds,
junk cars,
sniper training gear,
and a model building
— for various training courses,
including for its tactical training at #Fort #Benning,
per The Lever’s review of contracting records.
To train its sniper teams and special response groups,
ICE has also inked deals with military contractors and obscure security firms.
In July, ICE awarded a first-time, $23,000 contract to
#Reticence #Group #LLC,
a Texas-based armed security firm,
for “specialized law enforcement pistol and rifle” training.
The company, led by two SWAT officers in Texas,
advertises that it offers “covert and confidential armed security contractors”
for the private sector,
as well as
“firearms training that pushes limits.”
Another sole source contract in July for $35,000 was awarded to
#Path #Consulting #LLC,
a Virginia Beach-based firm that, according to a contract notice,
provides
“[close-quarter combat] live fire training”
and would help an ICE special response team
“develop new standard operating procedures.”
Although the contract notice indicated that
Path Consulting LLC had worked with ICE in the past,
no other online procurement records mention its name.
A call to a phone number linked to the company went unanswered.
In September,
ICE issued a no-bid contract to
Target Down Group,
a company owned by Dan LaLota,
the brother of Nick LaLota,
who has served as the Republican U.S. Representative for New York's 1st congressional district since 2023.
(Dan LaLota denied his brother had any role in the award when asked by Wired in September.)
Most of Target Down Group’s leadership are veterans of the U.S. special forces;
the company’s president,
#Dan #LaLota, is a former U.S. Marine.
The company’s website advertises
“elite firearms instruction,”
drawing from
“years of experience as veterans from U.S. Military Special Operations.”
In the Department of Homeland Security’s September justification for the no-bid contract,
officials wrote that ICE had an
“immediate requirement to procure precision fires and specialized observation capabilities for the national 'Special Response Team' (SRT) #sniper #program.”
“The law enforcement officers of ICE have a very challenging job to conduct,”
LaLota wrote in response to The Lever’s request for comment.
“Target Down Group is honored to have provided training to them in order to assist them [sic] perform their duties.”
The other ICE training contractors mentioned in this story did not respond to inquiries, nor did ICE.
https://www.levernews.com/shadow-contractors-are-training-ices-attack-teams/
#JonathanRoss #ReneeGood
#TargetDownGroup
#deportation #spendingblitz #LionheartAlliance #StrategicOperationsIInc #urbanwarfare
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