Federal prosecutors have charged two men linked to Antifa with terrorism offenses after what authorities describe as a coordinated assault on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Texas earlier this year.
Cameron Arnold and Zachary Evetts were indicted Wednesday for their alleged involvement in the July 4 attack on the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado. The indictment—unsealed Thursday—includes counts of attempted murder of federal officers, material support for terrorism, and unlawful use of firearms. Officials say the assault was an orchestrated attempt to target law enforcement personnel, according to ABC News.
FBI Director Kash Patel called the case a landmark in the agency’s counter-extremism efforts. “For the first time ever, the FBI has arrested anarchist violent extremists and charged these Antifa-aligned individuals with material support to terrorism,” Patel said. He described the assault as “a planned and coordinated terrorist attack on the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, where armed extremists tried to murder U.S. officers on July 4th.”
Patel credited the swift response of federal agents, saying the operation was carried out under “President Trump’s new authorities at record speed.” He added that more than 20 individuals connected to the same Antifa network have since been detained. “No one gets to harm law enforcement. Not on our watch,” he said.
According to Justice Department documents, Arnold and Evetts were part of a group of masked assailants clad in black who ambushed ICE officers and local police. Surveillance footage and seized weapons show the attackers carried AR-style rifles, protective gear, and communications devices.
Court filings detail a chaotic firefight in which an Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck, and roughly 30 rounds were fired at unarmed detention staff outside the facility. One attacker reportedly shouted, “Get to the rifles!” moments before the gunfire began.
Investigators later recovered twelve sets of body armor abandoned in vehicles and nearby woods, along with graffiti supplies and propaganda materials carrying slogans such as “FIGHT ICE TERROR WITH CLASS WAR!” and “FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS.”
Following the incident, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating Antifa as a terrorist organization—expanding the federal government’s capacity to target affiliated groups.
Officials say the indictments against Arnold and Evetts represent the most severe terrorism charges yet brought against Antifa-linked defendants, signaling a new phase in the federal response to attacks on law enforcement.
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