DALLAS (AP) — A pair of individuals apprehended in connection with a shooting incident this past July outside a Texas immigration detention center are now facing additional charges. This comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s recent directive to label the loosely organized entity known as antifa as a domestic terrorist group.
On Wednesday, Autumn Hill and Zachary Evetts were formally charged by a federal grand jury in Fort Worth. The charges include providing material support to terrorists and attempting to kill officers and employees of the U.S. government. Prosecutors allege that they were affiliated with an antifa faction responsible for orchestrating the shooting.
Hill and Evetts were already part of a group of 11 individuals charged with attempted murder tied to the Independence Day shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, located southwest of Dallas. The incident resulted in injuries to a police officer.
Attorney General Pam Bondi took to X on Thursday to discuss the new charges. She described antifa as “a left-wing terrorist organization” and emphasized that those involved will face prosecution accordingly.
Antifa, an abbreviation for “anti-fascists,” does not refer to a singular group but rather encompasses various militant factions on the far left. These groups typically engage in opposition to neo-Nazis and white supremacists during protests.
The indictment outlines that the assault commenced with individuals dressed in black and wearing masks. Some were armed and donned body armor. They launched fireworks at the center and vandalized vehicles and a security post. As law enforcement arrived, one person reportedly shouted, “get to the rifles,” before opening fire, wounding an officer.
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.
