US Prosecutors File First Terrorism Charges Against Antifa Supporters in Texas

Federal prosecutors in Texas have filed terrorism charges against two men allegedly linked to the far-left antifa movement, marking the first case of its kind since President Donald Trump’s administration formally designated the movement a terrorist organisation.

The charges, announced Thursday by FBI Director Kash Patel, accuse Cameron Arnold of Dallas and Zachary Evetts of Waxahachie of providing support to terrorists for their alleged role in the nonfatal shooting of a police officer at an immigration detention centre in Alvarado, Texas.

Both men were arrested in July along with eight others and initially charged with attempted murder and weapons offences. None of the defendants has entered a plea yet, though Arnold and Evetts are expected to do so at an October 22 hearing.

Arnold’s lawyer, Cody Cofer, said he looks forward to defending his client at trial, while Evetts’s attorney, Patrick McLain, said prosecutors were using the terrorism label for political purposes.

“I have seen no evidence from the prosecutors to support any of the charges,” McLain told Reuters.

In a social media post, Patel said:

“First time ever: the FBI arrested Antifa-aligned anarchist violent extremists and terrorism charges have been brought for the July 4 Prairieland ICE attack in Texas.”

According to the indictment filed in federal court on Wednesday, prosecutors allege that Arnold and Evetts were part of an antifa “cell” that attacked the Prairieland Detention Facility on July 4. The group allegedly set off fireworks, vandalised cars, and opened fire on officers defending the site, injuring a police officer in the neck.

Earlier charging documents had made no reference to antifa. The decision to add terrorism charges came after Trump’s September executive order classifying the loosely organised antifascist movement as a terrorist entity, a move that many legal experts have called legally unsound because antifa lacks a formal structure or leadership.

Trump and his Republican allies have accused antifa activists of inciting political violence, especially following the September killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and during protests targeting federal immigration authorities in several major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland.

Evetts and Arnold are charged with providing support to terrorists generally, not with supporting a designated terrorist organisation, a legally distinct category.