By DFW Support Committee
After a July 4 noise demonstration at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, TX, to show solidarity with ICE detainees and protest ongoing deportations, there was an officer-involved shooting. Trump’s Department of Justice skewed the shooting as a terrorist ambush and 17 people were arrested on ruinous charges. Eleven face aggravated assault, attempted murder, and terrorism charges. Six others face accusations including evidence tampering, smuggling of persons, and hindering prosecution of terrorism. Almost all are charged with organized criminal activity, and the state set their bonds as high as $15 million.
Common practices in activist scenes have been cast as evidence of violent conspiracy. The FBI alleges that use of encrypted messaging app Signal, wearing black clothing, zine distribution, and speech critical of the government are all proof of a conspiracy to ambush police. Even two defendants’ commercial printer has become evidence of criminality.
But the state lies. We know our loved ones. They devote their free time to caring for people neglected by the state, such as those experiencing homelessness and the queer community of Dallas-Fort Worth. They have families, pets, and lives they intended to return to on July 5. The state is using the people we love to demonize leftists, anarchists, and anyone it deems “Antifa” and to justify its repression of broader left movements. In spite of this, we are only emboldened.
“No one should take you out of your home at gunpoint and bring you to a county you’ve never been to, just for removing someone from a group chat,” said defendant Dario Sanchez, the sole defendant released on bond. “I’ve been arrested and released three times, each one more ridiculous than the last. At times I’ve felt numb or distraught, but more than anything, I’m angry at how my life has been stolen from me. I’m not about to let anyone make me shy away from who I am or what I believe in.”
“With these scare tactics, the government tries to constrain what we imagine is politically possible,” said Lydia Koza, wife of defendant Autumn Hill. “They put my wife in a cage because she objected to putting people in cages. When the FBI raided our house and took her away, I thought they would kill me. Threatening to take everything away from me has only given me more purpose than ever – to fight for justice, for her and everyone.”
Across the world, from Seoul, South Korea, to Athens, Greece, we’ve seen international support. People have hosted banner drops, letter writing campaigns, and solidarity events with the defendants. While on the legal front, the state and federal governments have purposely held defendants in limbo—waiting to indict them, subjecting them to a multitude of abuses in jail—organizing as a collective has helped us feel less alone. Seeing our family, our friends, and our comrades be subject to arbitrary punishment, forced labor, strip searches, bio-hazardous conditions, and denial of medical care while incarcerated only strengthens our belief in dismantling the carceral system and creating a world without police.
A public fundraiser has been organized by the DFW Support Committee at givesendgo.com/SupportDFWprotestors. We ask that you give if you can, but please write letters to the defendants and spread the word of this case: DFWdefendants.wordpress.com. Show the state that repression only breeds resistance.
UPDATE SINCE SLINGSHOT WENT TO THE PRINTING PRESS
Federal Agents Arrest Another Person in Prairieland Case, Bringing Total Number of Defendants to 18
The Arrest Comes More Than Three Months After July 4 Immigrant Solidarity Protest and Less Than a Month After Felony Charges Were Brought Against Johnson County Sheriff Adam King, Who Is Directly Involved in the Prairieland Case
DALLAS-FORT WORTH, TX — In an early morning raid yesterday, federal agents arrested another person in connection with a July 4 protest at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center. More than three months after the protest, Janette Goering was arrested by federal and local police at her home in Carrollton, Texas, on Tuesday, October 21. Goering is being held at Johnson County Jail on a state charge of aiding in the commission of terrorism and has a bond set at $5 million.
Goering’s arrest continues a trend of escalation by police and prosecutors in a case that now involves 18 defendants. The government is using exorbitant bonds of up to $15 million to imprison all but one of the defendants. “It’s unbelievable that more than three months later the state is still trying to widen the net in this case,” said a spokesperson for the DFW Support Committee, a group of family and loved ones of defendants. “They’re attempting to prosecute this as an “Antifa” case in order to terrorize the movement in solidarity with immigrants, but it’s not going to work.”
The case has been hailed by the Trump administration as the first legal case against “Antifa.” On October 15, federal charges were formally brought against two of the Prairieland defendants, Autumn Hill and Zachary Evetts; the charges include 1 count of providing material support to terrorists, 3 counts of attempted murder of officers and employees of the United States, and 3 counts of discharging a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of a crime of violence. FBI director Kash Patel called the defendants “Antifa-aligned anarchist violent extremists,” sharing Fox News coverage of the indictments on X. “This seems like a coordinated political campaign,” said Stephanie Shiver, wife of defendant Meagan Morris. “The feds didn’t do anything for months and then they bring everyone into court just days after Trump designated ‘Antifa’ a priority threat.” On September 25, the White House released the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7), which ordered all federal law enforcement agencies to prioritize combating “Antifa” as a domestic terrorism threat.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has doubled down on the political nature of the prosecution. In a lengthy federal hearing to establish probable cause to detain the defendants, the federal government raised political ideas expressed in group messages, political literature known as “zines,” and even board games found at defendants’ houses. Of significance was commercial printing equipment seized the week prior from the home of two defendants. The DOJ claimed that this equipment and the defendants’ production of left-wing reading materials, including zines and books, were evidence of their responsibility for criminal acts.
“The recent federal indictment makes false claims, mischaracterizes facts, and takes quotes out of context,” said a spokesperson for the DFW Support Committee. “Claims of adherence to a political ideology, whether true or not, are not grounds to charge someone with terrorism and does not belong in an indictment.”
On October 1, the State of Texas indicted 14 people on charges including terrorism, aggravated assault against a public servant, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a peace officer, aiding in the commission of terrorism, smuggling of persons, hindering prosecution of terrorism, and tampering with/fabricating physical evidence; the state imposed an additional charge of “engaging in organized criminal activity” for all 14 defendants. A total of 15 defendants have been indicted on state charges, meaning most defendants will be forced to fight concurrent federal and state cases.
Yesterday’s arrest comes just three weeks after criminal charges were filed against Johnson County Sheriff Adam King, whose office is working with the federal government to prosecute the Prairieland defendants. Supporters of the defendants call into question the credibility and integrity of King and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. “I’m just worried about the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office respecting defendants’ rights and following the law,” said Irina Popova, member of the DFW Support Committee. King is facing four felony charges, including aggravated perjury, corrupt influence, and abuse of official capacity, casting doubt about the veracity of the Prairieland case.
False accusations by Johnson County law enforcement play a major role in recent developments in the case against Dario Sanchez, the sole defendant released on bond. Sanchez faces state charges of hindering prosecution of terrorism and tampering with / fabricating physical evidence.
“I’ve been arrested and released three times, each one more ridiculous than the last,” said Sanchez. “At times I’ve felt numb or distraught, but more than anything, I’m angry at how my life has been stolen from me. I’m not about to let anyone make me shy away from who I am or what I believe in.” Sanchez was rearrested on September 22, based on a false claim by the prosecution that he violated his bond conditions. The government was forced to rescind the claim when confronted with proof to the contrary. As part of his release, Sanchez is required to submit to GPS tracking and monitoring and restriction of his electronic device usage. The charges against Sanchez simply stem from him removing someone from private group text chats. “The accusation that someone tampered with evidence for removing someone from a group chat is absurd,” said Popova. “The case against Sanchez shows how desperate the state is to criminalize these defendants.”
“This unending criminal investigation should alarm anyone who believes in the right to protest the government,” reflects Xavier T. de Janon, Director of Mass Defense at the National Lawyers Guild (https://www.nlg.org/nlg-stands-with-anti-ice-dissent-calls-for-solidarity-with-the-prairieland-defendants/). “We cannot tolerate the dangerous criminalization of a noise demonstration against ICE.”
The Prairieland case has garnered widespread attention and expressions of solidarity. On October 3, the DFW Support Committee called for a Day of International Solidarity. Groups of people from Seoul, South Korea, to Athens, Greece, showed support for the Prairieland defendants in the form of banner drops, letter writing campaigns, and other solidarity events.
With the start of the federal cases, the majority of the defendants were transferred to new jails. Ines Soto, Meagan Morris, Benjamin Song, Autumn Hill, and Zachary Evetts are now held at the Federal Medical Facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Elizabeth Soto, Savanna Batten, Maricela Rueda, Joy Gibson, and Rebecca Morgan are now being held at the Wichita County Detention Center. Family members have voiced concerns about the distance and new restrictions faced by those held at the Wichita County facility. Amber Lowrey, sister of Savanna Batten, said, “We now have to drive two and a half hours just to see our sister, and it’s been really hard to make phone calls work between technical issues or some arbitrary discipline.”
The various cases stem from a noise demonstration in solidarity with ICE detainees at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4, 2025. Toward the end of the demonstration, an officer with the Alvarado Police Department arrived and allegedly quickly became involved in an exchange of gunfire with someone else on the scene. The officer sustained minor injuries, and was released from the hospital shortly afterwards. Ten people were arrested at the scene, and a manhunt ensued in the subsequent days for another defendant. Eight more defendants were arrested in the days and weeks following the protest.
Relevant Federal Case Numbers:
4:25-mj-00451-BJ (Sanchez Estrada)
4:25-mj-00452-BJ (Initial 10 arrested)
4:25-mj-00468-BJ (Song)
4:25-mj-00479-BP (Sharp and Thomas)
4:25-mj-00495-BJ (Morgan)
4:25-cr-259-P (Arnold and Evetts)