Terror Charges Loom for Suspects in Immigration Detention Center Shooting: A Deep Dive

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Two individuals involved in a shooting incident outside a Texas immigration detention center last July now face additional charges linked to President Donald Trump’s recent directive to classify antifa as a domestic terrorist group.

Autumn Hill and Zachary Evetts were formally indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Worth on Wednesday. They face serious accusations, including providing material support to terrorists and attempting to murder U.S. government officers and employees. According to federal prosecutors, the pair are allegedly part of an antifa cell responsible for orchestrating the shooting.

Hill and Evetts are among 11 individuals already charged with attempted murder for their roles in the July 4th shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, located southwest of Dallas, which resulted in a police officer being injured.

Attorney General Pam Bondi took to X on Thursday, commenting on the new charges. She labeled antifa as a “left-wing terrorist organization” and asserted that they will face prosecution accordingly.

Short for “antifascists,” antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for left-leaning militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.

The indictment said the attack began when 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 officers responded, one person yelled, “Get to the rifles” and opened fire, striking an officer, according to the indictment.

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.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.