In brief
Officials in Texas have indicted six more individuals in connection with a July 4 shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center, increasing the total number of defendants charged to twelve. The charges, including terrorism, rioting, and attempted murder, align with recent declarations labeling antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. The incident injured a police officer when assailants threw fireworks and opened fire at law enforcement. Defense attorneys argue there is insufficient evidence to support the government's claims.
DALLAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Texas have charged six more individuals with new terrorism-related charges stemming from a shooting incident that occurred outside an immigration detention center near Dallas on July 4. The indictment released on Friday adds to previous charges and leverages President Trump's recent categorization of the antifa movement as a domestic terrorist organization.
The July 4 shooting incident took place outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of Dallas, resulting in injuries to a police officer. The charges include rioting, attempted murder, and firearm-related offenses, as prosecutors allege that the group hurled fireworks at the facility, vandalized vehicles, and later engaged with law enforcement by firing upon them, hitting an officer in the neck; he has since been released from a hospital.
These actions occurred amidst President Trump's administration's intensification of deportation efforts. Patrick McClain, the lawyer representing one defendant, Zachary Evetts, stated he has not encountered evidence supporting the government's assertations, emphasizing that Evetts has never been associated with any purported 'North Texas Antifa Cell' and questions the existence of such a group based on available evidence.
The term ‘antifa,’ short for anti-fascist, represents a range of loosely affiliated leftist groups that confront and resist far-right ideologies and movements, including neo-Nazism.