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In Dallas, federal prosecutors presented their case to jurors on Tuesday, asserting that a shooting incident outside a Texas immigration detention facility last year was orchestrated by members of antifa. This trial, which has garnered significant attention, is being challenged by defense attorneys who argue it unfairly targets political demonstrators.
The incident in question took place at the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas last July, resulting in a police officer sustaining a gunshot wound to the neck. Nine individuals are facing charges and have entered not guilty pleas regarding their purported roles in what prosecutors have labeled as an attack.
Of the nine defendants, eight are charged with providing material support to terrorists. This charge is linked to an order from former President Donald Trump, who designated antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. Additionally, most of these defendants are confronting multiple other charges, including the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.
The defense team contends that their clients are not affiliated with antifa. Instead, they claim the accused were participating in a “noise demonstration,” which featured fireworks on July 4, 2025, as a gesture of solidarity with immigrants housed in the detention center.
“Make no mistake, there’s nothing peaceful about what happened on July Fourth,” prosecutor Shawn Smith emphasized to the jury.
The trial is expected to last upward of three weeks. Several defendants face up to live in prison if convicted.
According to the indictment, 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 local officers responded, one person yelled, “get to the rifles” and opened fire, striking the officer, the indictment said.
Smith said that while it was defendant Benjamin Song who opened fire, several other defendants are also charged with attempted murder of a law officer and discharging a firearm because it was foreseeable from the group’s planning that that could happen. Song’s attorney did not give an opening statement Tuesday.
The officer who was shot, Alvarado police Lt. Thomas Gross, was the first witness to testify Tuesday. He said he was responding at about 11 p.m. to a call from the detention center when he saw that there was graffiti on a guard shed and a stop sign and noticed a guard chasing a person clad in black with their face covered.
Gross said he got out of his vehicle and saw another person, also clad in black with their face covered and carrying a rifle.
“At this point the scene is becoming extremely chaotic,” he said.
He told jurors he was shot with a round that went into his shoulder and out of his neck.
Defense attorneys told jurors that their clients could only be judged for their own individual actions. “It’s a trial within a trial,” said attorney Chris Tolbert, who is representing Savanna Batten.
He said his client didn’t bring a firearm, spray paint or fireworks to the center. He said that while the government claims that her book club — named for the anarchist Emma Goldman — is a recruiting ground for antifa, it’s just a book club.
“She’s not a member of antifa, she’s not providing material support to terrorists,” Tolbert said.
Short for “anti-fascists,” antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations. FBI Director Kash Patel has said the charges in Texas are the first time a material support to terrorism charge has targeted people he said were antifa members.
James Luster, the attorney for defendant Autumn Hill, said Hill has a deep conviction for people she feels are marginalized, including immigrants. Luster said that after watching fireworks being shot into the sky, Hill left before the police arrived.
“It was never supposed to come to this,” Luster said.
Several people have already pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists after being accused of supporting antifa related to the July 4 shooting. They face up to 15 years in prison at sentencing.