Trump Administration Touts First Antifa-Related Terrorism Charges in Texas Attack

A federal grand jury has indicted two alleged Antifa members on terrorism-related charges in connection with a July 4 attack on a Texas ICE facility, setting up a legal test of President Trump’s designation of Antifa as a terrorist organization.The FBI director, Kash Patel, confirmed it is the first time Antifa-related terrorism charges have been filed. “No one gets to harm law enforcement. Not on my watch,” Mr. Patel wrote on X.“We can, and will, track you down,” the deputy director of the FBI, Dan Bongino, posted on X. “It’s only a matter of time.”The indictment, unsealed on Thursday, charges “Antifa Cell” members Cameron Arnold and Zachary Evetts with providing material support to terrorists. It comes less than a month after Mr. Trump formally designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.The two suspects, who were among more than a dozen people arrested following the July attack, are also charged with attempting to murder federal and local officers and discharging firearms during a violent crime.A criminal complaint says a group of about 12 people dressed in black began shooting fireworks toward the facility being used for an ICE detention facility on July 4.One or two members of the group broke away and started to damage vehicles and a guard structure in the parking lot. One car had “Traitor” painted on it and another was defaced with the words “Ice Pig.”Officials inside the facility called 911 during the incident and when an Alvarado police officer arrived on the scene, one member of the cell allegedly yelled “get to the rifles.”A member of the group allegedly fired 20 to 30 rounds with an AR-15-style rifle, hitting the police officer in the neck.The suspects then fled the scene but were stopped by other law enforcement officers, according to authorities. Some were allegedly wearing body armor, some were armed, and some had two-way radios.The suspects were carrying spray paint and flyers stating, “FIGHT ICE TERROR WITH CLASS WAR!” and “FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS,” as well as a flag stating, “RESIST FACISM – FIGHT OLIGARCHY,” officers said.Police say they found AR-style rifles and 12 sets of body armor at the scene of the attack.The indictment made public Thursday claims the attack was well planned by its participants using an encrypted app. “I’m done with peaceful protests,” one member stated in an encrypted chat. “Blue lives don’t matter.”In his September 22 executive order, Mr. Trump declared that Antifa “is a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.”Antifa – short for anti-fascist – is a loosely connected network of left-wing activists who advocate direct action in opposition to what it sees as an increasingly authoritarian Trump administration.Writing on X after the indictment, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote: “As @POTUS has made clear, Antifa is a left-wing terrorist organization. They will be prosecuted as such.”

Trump Administration Touts First Antifa-Related Terrorism Charges in Texas Attack

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