First Terrorism Charges Issued For ‘Antifa Cell’ After Texas ICE Attack

Federal prosecutors have filed terrorism-related charges against two North Texas men accused of participating in a coordinated attack on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center on July 4.

Cameron Arnold and Zachary Evetts have been charged with providing material support to terrorists, attempted murder of U.S. officers and employees, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The indictment alleges the men were part of an “Antifa cell” that plotted to fire on law enforcement.

Neither Arnold nor Evetts has yet entered a plea, and all suspects are innocent until proven guilty.

Newsweek has contacted the DOJ for comment via email outside office hours.

Why It Matters

This case is believed to represent the first use of a material support to terrorism charge against suspects alleged to be associated with the anti-fascist movement.

President Donald Trump designated Antifa as a terrorist organization last month, calling it “a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.”

What To Know

On the night of July 4, a group of masked individuals dressed in black reportedly attacked the Prairieland ICE detention facility in Alvarado, Texas.

Local law enforcement reported that an Alvarado police officer responding to the scene was shot in the neck. He was flown to a hospital for treatment and later released.

Arnold and Evetts are among ten individuals who allegedly took part in an ambush of federal agents at the ICE detention facility, during which authorities say the suspects used fireworks to distract officers while vandalizing vehicles outside the facility.

In July 2025, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced that ten individuals had been charged with attempted murder of federal officers and firearms offenses in connection with the attack, and additional charges were later filed against a twelfth suspect, Benjamin Hanil Song, for his alleged role in supplying weapons used during the incident.

The indictment alleges that Arnold and Evetts were part of a group that conducted extensive planning before the incident, with Arnold allegedly training others in firearm use and close-quarters combat.

Authorities say the group was heavily armed, reportedly possessing over 50 firearms purchased in Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Dallas, and other areas. The indictment also claims Arnold allegedly built multiple AR-platform rifles, some of which he distributed to co-defendants, including at least one fitted with a binary trigger, which allows two rounds to fire per trigger pull.

According to the Department of Justice, Arnold, Evetts, and others allegedly used an encrypted messaging app to coordinate their actions. Investigators report that one member of the group wrote messages stating, “I’m done with peaceful protests” and “Blue lives don’t matter” during these conversations.

Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” is a loosely connected, decentralized movement of left-leaning activists and groups that oppose fascism, white supremacists, and neo-Nazi ideology, often through protest activity. Researchers and government analysts describe it as more of a set of shared principles than a formal organization, noting that it lacks official leaders, membership lists, or a national command structure.

While some individuals identifying with Antifa have engaged in vandalism or confrontations at protests, most activity linked to the movement involves counter-demonstrations, community organizing, and local activism.

Experts note that the movement’s loose, non-hierarchical structure makes it difficult to classify as a single organization under terrorism laws. Critics have also said that political portrayals of Antifa as a unified or centrally directed domestic terror group exaggerate its organization and influence.

Antifa activism traces its roots to anti-racist efforts aimed at opposing the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups, according to a June 2020 report from the Congressional Research Service.

What People Are Saying

“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.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a post on X: “Antifa is a left-wing terrorist organization. They will be prosecuted as such.”

The DOJ said in the indictment that “Antifa is a militant enterprise made up of networks of individuals and small groups primarily ascribing to a revolutionary anarchist or autonomous Marxist ideology, which explicitly calls for the overthrow of the U.S. government, law enforcement authorities and the system of law.”

“There is no single organization called antifa. That’s just not the way these activists have ever organized themselves,” Michael Kenney, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, told CBS News.

“On Independence Day, as Americans were celebrating our freedoms, a group of violent extremists attempted to assassinate federal officers protecting us from violent criminals,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement.