Ten people have been arrested and charged with attempted murder of federal officers in connection with a violent and brazen Independence Day attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center that left a local police officer wounded by gunfire, the Department of Justice announced this week.
The July 4 “organized attack,” according to a DOJ news release, unfolded just after 10:30 p.m. at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, a town of about 6,200 residents some 28 miles south of Ft. Worth.
Authorities said the defendants, all dressed in black military-style clothing, were equipped with body armor, two-way radios and firearms, including AR-style rifles recovered at the scene.
About ten minutes after assembling outside the facility, two of the individuals reportedly peeled away from the main group and tagged several vehicles and a guard structure with graffiti, spray painting the word “traitor” and the phrase “ICE Pig” federal and individuals’ property.
This allegedly occurred as other members of the group shot fireworks at the facility itself.
“An Alvarado police officer responded to the scene after correctional officers called 911 to report suspicious activity,” federal prosecutors said. “When the Alvarado police officer arrived, one alleged defendant positioned in nearby woods shot the officer in the neck. Another alleged assailant across the street fired 20 to 30 rounds at unarmed correctional officers who had stepped outside the facility.”
It’s exactly unclear how long the barrage of fireworks and gunfire lasted, but authorities said all ten defendants fled the detention facility’s grounds and were later caught by additional law enforcement backup, including one suspect, identified as Bradford Morris in the criminal complaint, during a traffic stop.
Morris admitted his involvement in the potentially deadly ordeal, saying he met some of the other suspects online and had given a few of them rides from Dallas to the detention center to “make some noise,” NBC News reported.
The rest of the group was captured on foot and have been identified as:
- Cameron Arnold
- Savannah Batten
- Nathan Baumann
- Zachary Evetts
- Joy Gibson
- Maricela Rueda
- Seth Sikes
- Elizabeth Soto
- Ines Soto
“One of the alleged attackers had cell phones inside a ‘Faraday bag,’ used to block phone signals and commonly used by criminal actors to try to prevent law enforcement from tracking their location,” the release noted.
Other items found on the group included spray paint and flyers with phrases including “Fight ICE Terror with Class War” and “Free All Political Prisoners,” as well as a flag emblazoned with “Resist Fascism-Fight Oligarchy.”
“Make no mistake, this was not a peaceful protest,” Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson said. “This was an ambush on federal and local law enforcement officers.”
The officer who was shot in the neck was treated at the hospital and later released. No other officers or Prairieland Detention Center staff were wounded during the exchange, NBC News reported.
Each of the suspects was charged with three counts of attempted murder of federal agents and three counts of discharging a firearm in connection with a crime of violence.
If convicted as charged, the individuals face a minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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