Alleged members of an Antifa cell in Texas have been charged with providing material support to terrorists. The case marks the first terrorism-related charges brought against those linked to Antifa.
“For the first time ever, the FBI has arrested anarchist violent extremists and charged these Antifa-aligned individuals with material support to terrorism,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to Fox News. “This was a planned and coordinated terrorist attack on the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, where armed extremists tried to murder U.S. officers on July 4th.”
Sharing the indictment online, Attorney General Pam Bondi declared, “As [President Trump] has made clear, Antifa is a left-wing terrorist organization. They will be prosecuted as such.”
The two individuals facing charges, Cameron Arnold and Zachary Evetts, were involved in the attack on federal agents at a Texas ICE facility.
As police responded to Antifa’s presence at the facility, Arnold allegedly yelled, “Get to the rifles,” and opened fire on the officers.
“Coconspiractor-1 [Arnold] continued to fire additional rounds until his rifle jammed,” the indictment adds. “The attackers then left the scene.”
The indictment notes that Arnold was viewed as a leader by members of the Antifa cell and trained members on “firearms and close-quarters combat.”
President Trump has designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, stating in an executive order that it is a “militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.” The order directs federal agencies to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute Antifa-linked activity, accusing the movement of orchestrating violence, suppressing free speech, and undermining U.S. institutions.
