U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal law enforcement officers engaged in immigration enforcement were targeted in at least two ambushes in Texas recently.
The Justice Department announced on Monday the charges against 10 individuals for shooting a police officer in the neck and attacking other correctional officers near the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on July Fourth. The group, dressed in all black, reportedly started by launching fireworks at the facility, which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) utilizes for holding individuals related to immigration breaches or pending deportation.
The named defendants are Cameron Arnold, also known as Autumn Hill; Savannah Batten; Nathan Baumann; Zachary Evetts; Joy Gibson; Bradford Morris, also known as Meagan Morris; Maricela Rueda; Seth Sikes; Elizabeth Soto; and Ines Soto. Each faces three charges of attempted murder of a federal officer and three counts of firing a gun during and related to a violent crime.
Gibson had two cell phones inside his backpack inside a “Faraday bag,” which is used to block phone signals and “commonly used by criminal actors to try to prevent law enforcement from tracking their location,” according to prosecutors.
Two days after the attack, Rueda allegedly called Daniel Rolando Sanchez, who was charged in a separate complaint, expressing concern police would conduct a search warrant on Rueda’s home in Fort Worth.
“Whatever you need to do, move whatever you need to move at the house,” Rueda said, according to court documents.
Ten individuals have been charged for their roles in the shooting of an Alvarado police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center. (Justice Department)
The FBI conducted surveillance on another address in Garland, Texas, believed to be Sanchez’s residence and observed Sanchez carrying multiple packages to his truck. Agents followed Sanchez to an apartment in Denton. He carried a box inside which contained “anti-government propaganda,” including fliers stating “Organising for Attack! Insurrectionary Anarchy,” according to the complaint.
The complaint was announced the same day that a man in a “utility vest” and armed with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents and a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border, on Monday.
A police officer was injured before authorities say they shot and killed the assailant, identified as 27-year-old Ryan Louis Mosqueda.
“Organising for Attack! Insurrectionary Anarchy” flier found after a police officer was shot and other officers came under fire at the Prairieland Detention Center. (Justice Department)
Police say Mosqueda was linked to a Michigan address, but was reported missing from a Weslaco, Texas, address around 4 a.m. Monday. Weslaco is about 20 miles from the Border Patrol facility.
Hours before the attack in McAllen, Mosqueda’s father was stopped by Weslaco police around 2:30 a.m. for a traffic violation, according to police spokesperson Heriberto Caraveo. The father told police that he was looking for his son, who he said had psychological issues and was carrying weapons in his car, Caraveo told The Associated Press.
Police say the white two-door sedan that Mosqueda drove to the facility had letters painted — possibly in Latin — on the driver’s side door.
“What it means, or whether or not it is an underlying reason for him being here, I do not know,” Rodriguez said when asked about the graffiti.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Saturday that the Justice Department was “closely monitoring the attacks on DHS detention facilities in Prairieland, TX, and Portland, OR, and are coordinating with the USAOs and our law enforcement partners.” He said in a post to X, “The Department has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible.”
Tactical vests and magazines with ammunition were found in the aftermath of the shooting of an Alvarado police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center. (Justice Department)
An ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, has faced repeated protests and attacks, and nearly two dozen people have been arrested since June.
Another four suspects were arrested for allegedly targeting the facility on the Fourth of July, according to Oregon Live. Those defendants are Jeremy Andrew Hummel, Andrew Lee Wyatt Marcum, Riley Freeman and Ian Joseph McCarthy.
Freeman is accused of tossing an incendiary device that exploded near federal officers outside the facility. Marcum is accused of kicking a federal officer who was chasing after Hummel, who was allegedly tagging protective plywood with graffiti.
Prosecutors say McCarthy, meanwhile, used bolt cutters while attempting to damage an electronic card reader near the driveway of the ICE building. He was also spotted allegedly removing fiber optic cables, interrupting the internet service inside the building. McCarthy also allegedly kicked and punched officers while being placed under arrest.
Freeman, Marcum and McCarthy appeared in federal court on Monday, but all three were released pending future court proceedings, according to KATU.
