Nine individuals associated with an Antifa group were formally indicted on Friday, with seven others facing charges linked to the attempted murder of a police officer in Texas. This incident occurred during a July assault on an immigration detention center, as reported by the Justice Department.
The accused, believed to be part of the North Texas Antifa Cell, include Cameron Arnold, Zachary Evetts, Benjamin Song, Savanna Batten, Bradford Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada. They face numerous charges tied to the July 4 attack at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
Moreover, Nathan Baumann, Joy Gibson, Susan Kent, Rebecca Morgan, Lynette Sharp, and John Thomas have been charged with providing material support to terrorists. In a related development, Seth Sikes was charged in late October with a similar offense.
Authorities allege that several Antifa members ignited fireworks at the Texas detention facility during the July 4 incident, according to the Justice Department.
FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the federal government’s commitment to confronting such violence. “Anyone targeting law enforcement or using violence to further an anarchist agenda will face the full force of federal prosecution,” Patel stated in an exclusive comment to Fox News Digital. “These individuals are domestic terrorists, and under President Trump’s leadership, we are identifying and prosecuting them.”
The nine individuals facing indictment are charged with a range of serious offenses, including rioting with intent to commit violence, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry explosives, and attempted murder of officers. Additional charges include discharging a firearm during a violent crime, corruptly concealing a document or record, and conspiracy to conceal documents.
“This is the first indictment in the country against a group of violent Antifa cell members,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson.
The defendants were members of a North Texas Antifa Cell, part of a larger militant enterprise made up of networks of individuals and small groups that call for the overthrow of the U.S government and law enforcement.
The Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas where a police officer was shot in the neck and several ICE officers were shot at July 4, 2025. (KDFW)
“Antifa is a terrorist organization and today’s guilty pleas — for violent assaults against law enforcement — mark a turning point in how the Department of Justice is approaching Antifa cases,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News Digital. “At President Trump’s direction, we are prosecuting Antifa like we prosecute groups such as Tren de Aragua and MS-13. Expect similar cases to come as we dismantle Antifa.”
Federal prosecutors said 11 of the suspects rioted and attacked the detention center, which was being used to house illegal immigrants awaiting deportation.
They were dressed in “black bloc”— dark clothing with head and face coverings that concealed their identities, authorities said. Once at the facility, they began shooting off and throwing fireworks at the building and vandalizing vehicles and a guard shack on the federal property.
An Alvarado police officer responded to the chaos after correctional officers called 911. When the officer issued commands to Baumann, Song allegedly yelled, “get to the rifles!” and then opened fire on the officer, who was struck in the neck as the unarmed correctional officers ducked and ran for cover.
Song, who many in the Antifa cell looked to as the leader, fled the scene, but was captured by law enforcement on July 15, prosecutors said.
The Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas that was attacked in July by members of Antifa, federal prosecutors said. (Justice Department; KDFW)
Before the attack, the Antifa cell allegedly acquired over 50 firearms in the Dallas and Fort Worth area, prosecutors said.
To conceal their plan, they used an encrypted messaging app to coordinate with each other that had auto-delete functions, permanently deleting some Antifa Cell members’ communications. They also used monikers in group chats to hide their identities, and some of the planning chats included only trusted participants.
The Antifa members allegedly conducted reconnaissance and discussed what to bring to the riot, including firearms, medical kits, and fireworks.
The nine defendants who were indicted are scheduled to appear in federal court to be arraigned on Dec. 3.
