The details available on Wednesday morning were scarce. There were reports out of Dallas about a shooting at an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Dallas, but there were conflicting accounts about the death toll and the intended targets.

JD Vance didn’t feel the need to wait for precise information. On the contrary, the vice president almost immediately pointed to an “obsessive attack on law enforcement,” described the suspected gunman as a “violent left-wing extremist,” and claimed he’d seen secret evidence that the alleged shooter was “politically motivated.”

Presumably, investigators will determine whether, and to what extent, the Ohio Republican’s assertions were correct, but this wasn’t the full extent of the vice president’s efforts to exploit the deadly shooting in Dallas. On the contrary, Vance went on to argue that Democratic criticisms of the Trump administration’s far-right immigration agenda lead to the kind of violence we saw at the ICE facility.

He added that Democrats and journalists are “encouraging crazy people to go and commit violence” with their disparagements of the White House agenda.

It wasn’t long before Donald Trump peddled a similar line. “I AM CALLING ON ALL DEMOCRATS TO STOP THIS RHETORIC AGAINST ICE AND AMERICA’S LAW ENFORCEMENT, RIGHT NOW!” the president wrote online, his own record of criticizing America’s law enforcement notwithstanding.

It’s highly relevant that the investigation into what transpired in Dallas is just getting started. It’s far from clear whether the suspected shooter (who appears to have taken his own life) was influenced by anyone, least of all Democratic leaders.

For that matter, despite recent partisan hysterics, the obsessive Republican rhetoric about far-left violence being more common than far-right violence has been discredited by voluminous research and evidence collected in recent years.

But stepping back, the White House’s reaction to the Dallas shooting is emblematic of a larger campaign focused on stifling dissent.

You’re a comedian telling jokes the White House doesn’t like? That’s “not allowed,” and you should expect to be targeted by federal officials.

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You’re a broadcaster airing news the White House doesn’t like? That’s “illegal” and your broadcast license is at risk.

You’re a newspaper publishing coverage the White House doesn’t like? The president will see you in court.

You’re a heckler who criticized the president in public? You’re subject to prosecution.

You’re a Democratic leader who criticizes the Republican administration? Expect to be blamed for political violence, even when there’s an open question as to whether the violence in question was, in fact, political.

Perhaps the White House should just streamline the process and release some kind of list, showing what Trump’s political opponents can and cannot say.