DALLAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Texas have charged six more people with a new terrorism-related charge in the July shooting outside an immigration detention center near Dallas, and said six others are scheduled to enter guilty pleas in the case.
The latest indictment issued Friday expands on previous charges and cites President Trump’s recent declaration that deems the decentralized movement known as Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. Trump attributes political violence to Antifa.
The case relates to the July 4 shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, located southwest of Dallas, which injured a police officer. The charges include rioting, attempted murder, and weapons and explosives charges.
Prosecutors allege that the group threw fireworks at the facility, vandalized vehicles, and subsequently shot at responding police and correctional officers, injuring an officer in the neck. That officer has since been released from the hospital.
The incident coincided with the Trump administration's increased efforts in deportations.
Patrick McClain, a lawyer representing defendant Zachary Evetts, asserts that there is no evidence supporting the government's perspective. He indicated that Evetts will plead not guilty at the December 3 arraignment on the new charges.
Evetts's lawyer has previously stated, Mr. Evetts has never been a member of anything like a ‘North Texas Antifa Cell,’ and based on the evidence provided by the government, there is no proof that such an organization ever existed.
Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is not a formal organization but is rather an umbrella term for various far-left groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists during demonstrations.
The latest indictment issued Friday expands on previous charges and cites President Trump’s recent declaration that deems the decentralized movement known as Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. Trump attributes political violence to Antifa.
The case relates to the July 4 shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, located southwest of Dallas, which injured a police officer. The charges include rioting, attempted murder, and weapons and explosives charges.
Prosecutors allege that the group threw fireworks at the facility, vandalized vehicles, and subsequently shot at responding police and correctional officers, injuring an officer in the neck. That officer has since been released from the hospital.
The incident coincided with the Trump administration's increased efforts in deportations.
Patrick McClain, a lawyer representing defendant Zachary Evetts, asserts that there is no evidence supporting the government's perspective. He indicated that Evetts will plead not guilty at the December 3 arraignment on the new charges.
Evetts's lawyer has previously stated, Mr. Evetts has never been a member of anything like a ‘North Texas Antifa Cell,’ and based on the evidence provided by the government, there is no proof that such an organization ever existed.
Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is not a formal organization but is rather an umbrella term for various far-left groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists during demonstrations.
