Suspects in Immigration Detention Center Shooting Charged with Terrorism: Latest Developments

Two individuals apprehended in connection with a shooting incident in July at a Texas immigration detention facility now face additional charges following an executive directive by President Donald Trump to categorize antifa as a domestic terrorist entity.

Autumn Hill and Zachary Evetts were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Worth on Wednesday, facing charges such as providing material support to terrorists and attempting to murder U.S. government officers and employees. Federal prosecutors allege that Hill and Evetts were part of an antifa faction responsible for orchestrating the shooting.

Hill and Evetts were previously among 11 individuals charged with attempted murder linked to the July 4 incident at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, located southwest of Dallas, where a police officer sustained injuries.

In a social media post on X discussing the new charges, Attorney General Pam Bondi labeled antifa as “a left-wing terrorist organization,” asserting that they will face prosecution accordingly.

Antifa, short for “antifascists,” is not a centrally organized group but a collective term for leftist militant groups that actively oppose or confront neo-Nazis and white supremacists during protests.

The indictment said the attack began when a group of people clad in black and wearing masks, some carrying firearms and wearing body armor, shot fireworks toward the center and vandalized vehicles and a guard shed. Then, as officers responded, one person yelled, “Get to the rifles” and opened fire, striking an officer, according to the indictment.

The indictment said that the group brought 10 firearms to the July 4 attack.

Cody Cofer, an attorney for Hill, said in an emailed statement that the new terrorism-related charge “could be understood by some as an attempt to appeal to a mob mentality rather than relying on the evidence and the law.”

Patrick McLain, an attorney for Evetts, said that so far he’s seen “zero basis” for any of the charges against his client.

The original charges filed over the summer say searches related to the attack found items including anti-government materials and flyers with political messages, but those documents did not mention antifa.

Antifa is a domestic entity and, as such, is not a candidate for inclusion on the State Department’s list of foreign terror organizations. There is no domestic equivalent to that list in part because of broad First Amendment protections enjoyed by organizations operating within the United States.

The July 4 shooting took place as Trump’s administration has ramped up deportations. Days after that shooting, a man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents and a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen near the Mexico border, injuring a police officer. Authorities shot and killed the attacker.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Suspects in Immigration Detention Center Shooting Charged with Terrorism: Latest Developments

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Suspects in Immigration Detention Center Shooting Charged with Terrorism: Latest Developments

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