Reproduced below is a January 10, 2026 publication from Truthout, authored by Brit “Red” Schulte.

This article was originally published by Truthout

I’ve been making zines since I was 14 years young. I’ve been distributing them since I was 16. I’m now 37 years old and pursuing a doctorate in art history studying communities of zine makers.

In recent years I’ve seen a notable increase in people talking about zines, making them, and attending zine fests — it’s been heartening and wild to witness! I’ve watched what felt at times like this niche and nerdy part of my life blossom into something much more expansive.

When working with my students, or hosting community zine making workshops, I often define zines as small, independently published objects that are amateurish in the best way — they’re free or cheap to get copies of, contain typed or handwritten text, and depending on what zine you find, they’re filled with collage, art, poetry, political history, personal stories, recipes, health advice, quite literally everything you can think of. Zines are an embodiment of the “do it yourself” ethos.

Now, the latest targets of President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda of political repression include a diverse group of protesters, jail support volunteers, educators, and, crucially, zine distributors, and print artists. More than a dozen people face criminal charges, including riot; conspiracy to use and carry explosives; the use and carrying of explosives; attempted murder of officers and employees of the United States; discharging a firearm during, in relation to and in furtherance of a crime of violence; and corruptly concealing a document or record. And at the center of their charges is a box of zines and jail support group chats.

From a Typical Noise Demo to a Series of FBI Raids

On July 4, 2025, protesters had gathered at the Prairieland Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, to oppose immigration enforcement practices and show support for detainees, using fireworks and noise-making as their demonstration method — a traditional form of protest in solidarity with incarcerated people. When local police responded to ICE’s call to remove the protesters, an officer reportedly suffered a neck injury that authorities attributed to a gunshot. Prosecutors have only identified two individuals as alleged shooters despite the broad scope of arrests. Following the demonstration, federal authorities launched an extensive investigation that resulted in charges against 16 individuals known as the Prairieland Defendants, and harassment of their extended friends, families, and neighbors.

Guidelines issued by the White House in September detail how the Trump administration will target and pursue anyone it deems to be motivated by “anti-Americanism, anti-Capitalism, and anti-Christianity” as domestic terrorists. Trump has also designated “antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization. Those of us who are anti-fascist know that “antifa” simply refers to a collective sense of being anti-fascist and believing that fascism is ultimately a real and present threat to all life. It is not a unified entity or organization. Antifa is a rallying cry, a politic, a historical reference that connects one to a legacy of fighting Nazism in Germany, and fighting other fascists in Italy, Spain, and elsewhere in the 1930s.

Zines have been criminalized before our current moment, and at times their creation and circulation was made punishable by death.

Texas resident Des Revol, in particular, is being targeted by the Trump administration under these guidelines. He did not attend the July 4 demonstration in Alvarado, Texas, but he was arrested two days afterward after he had a phone call with his wife, who was detained at the noise demonstration. FBI agents stopped him for a traffic violation in Denton, Texas, and took him into custody at gunpoint. Authorities charged him with evidence tampering constituting obstruction of justice as well as conspiracy, alleging he “transported a box that contained numerous Antifa materials” from his residence to another location. This literature — pamphlets and zines commonly found in activist spaces — became the basis for his prosecution. Despite having no connection to the original demonstration, Des faces potential federal imprisonment and additional risks from both immigration enforcement and hostile right-wing groups that have publicly identified him online.

When we spoke, Lydia Koza, the wife of Prairieland Defendant Autumn Hill, plainly stated what’s happening: “At the most abstract level, I believe the Trump administration and the state of Texas know in some collective-unconscious way that authoritarian, grasping models of power are unsustainable and require ever-greater levels of escalation; and that models predicated on care and equity are both more natural and more sustainable. Solidarity and compassion therefore become threats.”

Meanwhile, Prairieland Defendant Savanna Batten has lost more than 30 pounds since her incarceration in September of 2025, according to her sister, Amber Lowrey. When we spoke about her mounting concerns, Lowrey said:

When an individual becomes a target of state repression, it harms everyone within their orbit. Everyone who was taken from the Prairieland protest has lost, at very least, their employment. Many lost their homes or vehicles, and some owe huge repair bills as a result of violent raids that left their dwellings badly damaged and exposed to the elements. At least two minor children said goodbye to their parents as they left to go to a protest five months ago, and they never came back. Pets have had to be rehomed … State repression is violent. It is extreme. It is incredibly isolating, and that is by design. This has been, by far, the most traumatic experience of my life — and I wasn’t even the target.

Likewise, when the FBI began raiding the home of Autumn Hill and Lydia Koza, “I wondered if I was going to die or be taken to a rendition site,” Koza said. “At that moment, I had resigned myself to losing everything I cared about. Every ounce of ideological opposition to police violence, to state terror, to incarceration, suddenly became viscerally relevant.”

Are Zines a Threat?

I myself have copies of most, if not all, of the zines that Des Revol had in that box. Those zines were free or cheap to get, and are filled with history, free thought, anarchist political analysis, discussions of shared struggle, and hope. I have many such titles, and yes, I believe they are at once paper and ink and also incendiary devices. I reject the framing of innocence and crime being used to describe zines and those who make or share them.

“Zines could be called the atomic unit of free speech — the simplest possible, highest-impact pamphlet; the most entry-level way of disseminating ideas that can’t find footing in mainstream discourse,” Koza told me.

Two other Prairieland Defendants had previously established a small, independent print shop and literature distribution to support local book clubs as well as anarchist and socialist reading groups, and had only just begun tabling at book fairs and zine fests. These artists’ and writers’ arrest and subsequent incarceration has shuttered this local resource, ending access to affordable and free printing and breaking up print communities — an outcome the Trump administration is all too happy to execute.

How many of us have visited a public library’s zine rack, or attended a local print fair or zine fest? Under a fascist political regime, all oppositional discourse … is subject to attack.

Zines are often sources of great inspiration and personal conviction. If being against a regime that deports, kills, silences, poisons, and cages is criminal, then we must abandon the nonsensical concept of innocence. Political literature should make you feel, think, learn, and act. Zines have been criminalized before our current moment, and at times their creation and circulation was made punishable by death — in revolutionary France, in the post-revolutionary United States, and in Nazi Germany, just to name a few. Nothing about the Trump administration’s tactics should surprise us; we are sure to see more zines, pamphlets, leaflets, and other print culture be labeled “domestic terrorism materials” in the future.

Even still, there is solidarity everywhere. In October, I traveled to Athens, Greece, and visited La Zone, a beautiful anarchist community space and cafe, with a tremendous selection of zines, books, artwork, and free literature. At the time of writing this, I learned that La Zone hosted a “letter-writing & solidarity evening for the imprisoned Prairieland (Texas) codefendants.” Yes, zines are folded pieces of paper, but they’re also lifelines, histories, and embodiments of hope.

How many of us keep a box of zines, or leaflets, or political pamphlets around the house? Around our offices or apartment? How many of us have visited a public library’s zine rack, or attended a local print fair or zine fest? Under a fascist political regime, all oppositional discourse, literature, art, and life is subject to attack. We must recommit to solidarity, and rise to the defense of those whose lives and actions become criminal by default. The Trump administration wants us to live in ignorance and fear, so we must continue making, thinking, and learning together. Zines will continue to play vital roles in our movement organizing and political education. Keep informing yourself about the calls for support and solidarity with the Prairieland defendants. Keep reading, keep making.

This article was originally published by Truthout and is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Please maintain all links and credits in accordance with our republishing guidelines.

---

Reproduced below is a December 18, 2025 publication from The Guardian, authored by Sam Levine.

DoJ says a group of protesters at an ICE detention center was part of a terror cell; legal experts say case is an effort to crack down on leftwing groups and deter protesters

After the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September, Donald Trump and others pledged a no-holds barred crackdown on leftwing activists.

“We have radical left lunatics out there and we just have to beat the hell out of them,” Trump said after Kirk’s shooting. Top White House officials, including JD Vance and Stephen Miller, repeatedly publicly vowed that a crackdown was coming. In particular, the government focused on “antifa,”which is short for antifascist, and is not an organization but rather an ideology that broadly describes a variety of left-leaning beliefs.

About a month later, the administration had its first trophy. The justice department announced it was bringing terrorism charges against two people in Texas who were part of a “North Texas antifa cell”. Prosecutors said the cell had planned an attack at ICE’s Prairieland detention facility and ended with two correctional officers being shot at and a police officer getting non-fatally shot. Ultimately,18 people were charged – some donning all black gear, masks and radios – and the government said they had carefully plotted the attack.

It was the first time the government had ever filed terrorism charges against antifa. In total, 15 people were charged with providing material support for terrorism. They also face state charges as well as numerous other federal charges relating to rioting, carrying an explosive, firearms, and attempted murder of a federal employee.

The US attorney in Texas’s northern district appeared on Fox News the next day and alleged that people in the supposed cell “want to overthrow the United States government”.

“As @POTUS has made clear, Antifa is a left-wing terrorist organization. They will be prosecuted as such,” US attorney general Pam Bondi tweeted the day the charges were announced in October.

There is no doubt a police officer was shot at the protest. Prosecutors have also brought charges against people they say helped the alleged shooter escape. But the case has drawn considerable alarm because of the way that prosecutors have sought to create a criminal enterprise – a “North Texas antifa cell” – among a group of demonstrators who were uninvolved in the shooting. Legal experts say it is a thinly-veiled effort to crack down on leftwing groups and deter protesters. Six defendants have already pled guilty to providing material support to terrorists.

“It should concern everyone else in the country, because their community, their circles, might be next,” said Xavier de Janon, who is the director of mass defense at the National Lawyers Guild and has been closely following the case. “This precedent could result in people facing terrorism charges for doing very simple mainstream activism.”

The case is more complex than Trump officials have let on, according to a Guardian review of court records and interviews with defense lawyers and family members. The evidence so far raises considerable questions about whether those charged believed they were going to a protest that would result in violence or destruction of federal property. Family members and lawyers for several of those charged said in interviews the defendants had nothing to do with antifa. And experts say the terrorism charges the government has filed have nothing to do with the ideology of the defendants.

Perhaps most significant in the Texas case is the way that prosecutors have sought to create a criminal enterprise – a “North Texas antifa cell” – among a group of demonstrators, some of whom say they did not know each other and met for the first time at the protest. Prosecutors have pointed to leftwing zines and flyers seized from the protesters, their use of the encrypted messaging app Signal, all black clothing worn at the protest, and general discussion of firearms to argue that those at the protest were part of a terror cell.

As Donald Trump and his allies look to crack down on leftwing groups, the provision may offer a new cudgel for the Trump administration to go after political opponents.

“I do think there is reason to be concerned that the administration is trying to find ways to become that aggressive with its prosecutions, which would really be abandoning first amendment principles,” said Francesca Laguardia, a professor at Montclair State University who studies terrorism prosecutions.

“The novelty is not really a new use of an old statute, but more actively thinking to use the statute at all,” she added. “The novelty allows for prosecutions of people who are not associated with established terrorist organizations.”

A spokesperson for the US attorney’s office for the northern district of Texas, which is handling the case, declined to comment. A justice department spokesperson did not return a request for comment.

---

Amber Lowrey wasn’t surprised when she got a call on 5 July and found out her sister Savanna Batten had been arrested.

She knew Batten had planned to go to a protest the night before at a local ICE facility. Batten had been going to protests for years and had been arrested before “for blocking doors and things like that”, Lowrey said. Her sister loved animals, wasn’t violent, didn’t like guns, and would barely say a curse word. So whatever Batten had been arrested for, Lowrey figured it couldn’t be too serious. But as the day went on, Lowrey began to see news stories about the protest. A police officer had been shot. She began to worry. “Oh, no, Savanna what have you gotten yourself into?” she thought.

Savanna Batten. Photograph: DFW Support Committee

In July, Batten was one of about a dozen people federally charged with attempted murder of a federal officer and discharging a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. Little happened in the case in the weeks after.

A few months later, after Kirk’s death, the government released a new indictment against Batten and several of the other activists who were charged. Now, they accused Batten of being part of a “North Texas antifa cell” and brought new terrorism charges against the activists.

Amber noticed the justice department began highlighting antifa – something she said her sister had nothing to do with – on social media.

“The charges the Grand Jury has leveled against these defendants, including material support for terrorists, address the vicious attack perpetrated by an anti-ICE, anti-law enforcement, anti-government, anarchist group,” Nancy Larson, the acting US attorney for the northern district of Texas, said in a November statement. “We are firm in our resolve to protect our law enforcement officers and federal facilities against organized domestic terrorist cells.”

“We were just like ‘wait a minute, what is going on here?”Lowrey said. “I promise you there is no antifa cell.”

“I thought at first it’s a misunderstanding,” she said.

On 4 July, Batten drove to Prairieland detention facility, about 30 minutes south from her home in Fort Worth, with two friends, according to court documents. The plan was to stage a noise demonstration, setting off fireworks in solidarity with immigrants detained inside. By the time she got there, about half a dozen other protesters had already arrived. Among the protesters were 11 firearms, prosecutors would later say.

A little after 10.30pm, the protesters began setting off fireworks, according to court documents. Some of the protesters began spray painting a guard booth, vehicles in the parking lot, damaged the tires on a government van, and broke a security camera, according to a plea agreement in one case. Just before 11pm local police arrived on the scene as two unarmed correctional officers attempted to talk to the protesters, according to the criminal complaint filed earlier this year.

What happened next is not exactly clear. Prosecutors say one of the protesters ran towards Benjamin Song, a local activist who prosecutors say was the leader of the group. Song allegedly yelled “get to the rifles”, and began shooting at the officers with an AR-15 rifle that had a modified binary trigger, which allowed him to fire off more rounds quickly. An Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck and would later recover.

Lowrey said Batten wasn’t close to the shooting when it happened. Prosecutors say she was arrested later at an intersection nearby with six others. “They were dressed in black, military-style clothing, some had on body armor, some were covered in mud, some were armed, some had radios,” prosecutors said in court papers.

Zachary Evetts, another protester, was arrested around 2am walking along the side of the road and police say they found him with a black balaclava mask, safety goggles and tactical gloves. Meagan Morris, who told KERA she played on her Nintendo Switch while the protest took place, was arrested in her car after she drove away when gunshots started. Police said they found two guns, a ballistic helmet, a loaded gun magazine, a hand-held radio and two bulletproof vests in the car.

Prosecutors also may focus on the all black gear many of the protesters wore in an effort to prove the material support for terrorism charge. Some of the protesters who have pled guilty have stipulated to prosecutors they dressed in all black knowing it would make it more difficult for police to arrest them for damaging government property.

The opening paragraphs of the indictment lays out the government’s description of what antifa is, describing it as “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 overthrow of the United States government, law enforcement authorities, and systems of law”, prosecutors wrote.

But whether or not the defendants were part of a larger group is not relevant to the terrorism charge they face, experts said. In order to prove someone is guilty of material support to terrorists, prosecutors must simply show that they intended to commit one of several specific crimes.

“The actual language of the statute does not require a nexus to terrorism or a terrorist organization,” Laguardia said. “Clearly they’re going to use this case in terms of communication with the public to build out this idea that antifa has become a terrorist organization.”

In this case, prosecutors allege the protesters provided material support for three crimes of terrorism: attempting to destroy government property by using an explosive, destroying government property in excess of $1,000 and attempting to kill an employee of the United States.

The key to the case is likely to be whether the participants intended to commit or assist those crimes. In court documents, for example, prosecutors have focused on the fact that the participants wore all black and covered their faces, an intentional effort to conceal their identities from law enforcement.

“Is some discussion of a target location going to be sufficient? Or discussion of a weapons cache, is that going to be sufficient?” said Thomas Brzozowski, who worked as counsel for domestic terrorism in the justice department’s national security division. “That’s the $50,000 question.”

They have also highlighted that two of the protesters went to the ICE facility earlier in the day earlier in the day and sent pictures of a security camera and details about the gate surrounding the facility.

Patrick McClain, a lawyer for Evetts – one of the people alleged to have done reconnaissance at the site – said the scouting was done for a different reason.

“He went to a site to see what it is because they were concerned about safety,” he said. “What is this place like? None of them had been there.” He similarly said they wore all black for safety reasons. “Look how protesters are being treated across the country by federal agents.” He added that his client was not part of any so-called antifa cell.

Those who know the defendants say there was no intent to commit violence that night. Lydia Koza, 32, whose wife Autumn Hill, 30, was arrested after the protest, was home when a few protesters gathered at their home before heading to Prairieland. Prosecutors said their house was a staging ground to gather guns and other gear. Koza and Hill, like several of the people arrested, are transgender.

“My understanding is that they were going to go and try to make some noise to let people in Prairieland detention center know they had not been forgotten,” she said. “I am supremely confident no violence was planned at this event.” Shortly before going out, she gave her number to a few of the people who had gathered to call in case they were arrested. She described her and her housemates as “a bunch of fucking nerds”.

Asked why the protesters were carrying guns if there was no intention of violence, Koza speculated they were for self-defense.

“A lot of the time rightwing counter protesters will try to show up at leftist protests to counter protests. And a lot of the time the rightwing counter protesters will be armed,” she said. “My understanding is basically that they were going to leave the guns in the car or in some place where they could get them, but they would not be carrying the guns per se,” she said.

Prosecutors have painted the protest in a vastly different light, portraying the demonstrators – some of whom had never met each other – as far-left extremists who planned violence on the evening of 4 July. They have pointed to two different group chats on Signal, the encrypted messaging platform, where they say the activists used aliases and auto-deleted messages as they planned the event.

In one of those chats, titled “4th of July party!”, prosecutors say a group of six of the activists scouted out the detention facility in the days leading up to the protest, mapping out the perimeter, doorbell cameras nearby, and the closest police station. According to the indictment, Maricela Rueda, one of the activists in the chat, asked if they would be bringing guns to the protest, expressing concern that doing so “might make the situation more hot”. Song allegedly replied that having a rifle would intimidate law enforcement since “cops are not trained or equipped for more than one rifle, so it tends to make them back off”.

Song posted a flyer for the protest in a larger activist chat describing the protest as a noise demonstration and asked those in the group to only share it with “trusted folks.” The night of 3 July, Song went to the house where Hill and Morris lived to review the gear they were going to bring to the protest. Hill asked Song if he would be bringing guns to the protest, and Song said he would because he didn’t intend to go to jail, according to the indictment. He repeated that several times over the course of the night, prosecutors say, “putting everyone there on notice of his intent to shoot at police rather than be arrested”.

Koza was there that night, and said that while she didn’t hear all of the conversations that night, she didn’t recall Song making that comment. She also rejected the characterization that the remark signaled an intent to shoot police and believed Song didn’t intend to shoot police.

“I don’t think this individual had any intention of shooting at cops,” she said. “I think that it was much more of a ‘don’t get shot yourself’.”

In a statement of facts accompanying a guilty plea last month, Seth Sikes, another protester who pled guilty to providing material support to terrorists, told prosecutors that Song’s role was to use his rifle to intimidate law enforcement so that the protesters could escape. Two other defendants, who also pled guilty to providing material support to terrorists, told prosecutors Song’s role was to alert the protesters to police.

Lowrey said that in the days after Savanna was arrested, she spoke with her on the phone in jail and that her sister didn’t even know there had been a shooting.

“She just kept saying ‘no something’s wrong. This is not what happened. Let’s try to be calm and let everything shake out’ and she was very much like ‘this is not a big deal,’” Lowrey said. McClain, Evetts’ lawyer, also said there was no intention of violence.

Prosecutors also allege the use of Signal itself is suspicious because it allowed those who participated in the protest “to hide their involvement in illegal conduct”. But both Koza and Lowrey said that is a gross overreading of using Signal, which is now fairly widely used amid broader concerns about government surveillance. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and other top government officials used the app to communicate.

“I’m a 42-year-old mom, about as straight-laced as they come and I use Signal,” Lowrey said.

Koza said she and Hill use Signal for everyday things like grocery lists and there wasn’t a nefarious reason many people in their group chats didn’t use their real names. “That’s just what you do when you’re on a group chat with your friends, you make up goofy nicknames that you call each other,” she said. Hill’s moniker on Signal was “not beating the little creature allegations”, which Koza said was an inside joke of sorts that referenced how those who knew her thought she was adorable.

Prosecutors have also pointed to materials seized to try and paint the group as a terror organization. The original indictment, from July, included a picture of a flag obtained at the scene that says “resist fascism, fight oligarchy” with a fist reaching upwards. Prosecutors also point out in the indictment that Batten and two of the people she arrived with were involved in printing “insurrectionary materials called ‘zines”. Another defendant, Daniel Sanchez-Estrada, wasn’t at the attack. But authorities arrested him afterwards for moving a box of zines after one of the protesters called him from jail. He was charged with conspiracy to conceal documents and corruptly concealing a document or record.

After her initial reaction to Batten’s arrest, Lowrey has since learned more about the case and become more convinced in the wrongness of her sister’s prosecution. “They just want to make an example of people and silence anyone who, who you know, opposes the government. They want to silence dissent, criminalize dissent, really. And that is why I think they’re doing it,” she said.

When she realized Batten would be in jail for a while, she went to her apartment with her mom to tidy things up. In the microwave, she found a cherry cobbler, apparently baked by Batten that day for her and her friends to eat that evening when they returned from the protest. It was covered in mold.

“She has 10 hermit crabs, she has a cat – you’re asking me to believe she walked out of her apartment and abandoned her animals that she probably loved more than her own life and she baked a cherry cobbler,” she said. “None of this says I’m walking out into what is essentially a suicide mission.”

Reproduced below is a section from the December 10, 2025 publication of In Contempt, which is a monthly report on prison rebels, State repression, and news from an abolitionist perspective. There have been minor factual corrections to the number of defendants who pled guilty.

Prairieland Defendants

The state has seriously escalated repression over the now 18 people facing charges from the immigrant solidarity demonstration at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center on July 4, 2025. Under the new “domestic terrorism” orders targeting “antifa.”

The DFW Support Committee has reported that after 12 more defendants were federally indicted under new charges, including rioting, attempted murder, and material support for terrorism, with federal prosecutors offering early plea deals recommending sentences of up to 15 years in prison, 7 defendants plead guilty.

Fortunately, 9 defendants––Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Daniel “Des” Rolando Sanchez Estrada, Benjamin Song, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto––plead not guilty, refusing to collaborate against their co-defendants, fighting their bogus, politically-motivated charges, and taking their cases to trial. 

According to a recent statement by the DFW Support Committee,

“The superseding indictment makes unproven claims, mischaracterizes facts, and takes quotes out of context,” said Stephanie Shiver, wife of defendant Meagan Morris. “Claims of adherence to a political ideology like anti-fascism, whether true or not, are not grounds to charge someone with terrorism and do not belong in an indictment,” continued Shiver. “By associating the Prairieland case with Antifa, the government is using terrorism charges to spread fear and intimidation, and to carry out sweeping political repression.”

Prejudicial statements related to these cases have been made repeatedly by officials at the highest levels of government, undermining the defendants’ ability to get a fair trial. The Trump administration has publicly claimed that the Prairieland case is the first legal case against Antifa, while Trump declared Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. 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. FBI director Kash Patel has called the Prairieland defendants “Antifa-aligned anarchist violent extremists,” sharing Fox News coverage of the case on X.

Yet, supporters are refuting the claims of terrorism and planned violence. “As the Prairieland case progresses, it looks more and more like a protest case involving people expressing solidarity with detained immigrants,” said Amber Lowrey, sister of defendant Savanna Batten. “The federal government is trying to reframe protest activity as terrorism, and we’re seeing this attempted across the country, from Chicago to Portland, and now here in Dallas-Fort Worth.”

Federal arraignments for defendants who refused plea deals were held on December 3, and sentencing hearings for those who took the plea deals will be held at the Ft. Worth Federal Courthouse on March 12 and March 19.

The DFW Support Committee has announced that they’ve raised enough money to hire a successful federal defense attorney for one of the defendants. They’re hoping to raise at least $15,000 beyond what they have left so they can retain more attorneys for other defendants. This is especially important given that the federal trials are set to begin on January 5, 2026.

The ongoing fundraiser is available at https://www.givesendgo.com/supportdfwprotestors

On December 9, WordPress.com suspended the website for the DFW Support Committee for alleged terms of services agreement violations: a new site has been launched on Noblogs.

As far as we’re aware, the addresses of the non-cooperating defendants are:

Cameron Arnold #11138-512
(write letter to Autumn Hill)
Benjamin Hanil Song #11137-512
Bradford Morris #11136-512
(write letter to Meagan Morris)
Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada #95099-511
Ines Houston Soto #11144-512
Zachary Evetts #11141-512

FMC Fort Worth
Federal Medical Center
P.O. Box 15330
Fort Worth, TX 76119

Elizabeth Soto #100005
Janette Goering #202503019
Joy Gibson #100009
Maricela Rueda #100010
Rebecca Morgan #100008
Savanna Batten #100006

Wichita County Detention Center, TX
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

A regularly updated letter-writing zine with recent updates about the case is available to print and share.

support-dfw-ice-protesters-imposedDownload

Free Des!

Supporters of Des Revol––anarchist, artist, and immigrant being held on ICE hold after bogus charges relating to allegedly moving a box of zines––were heartbroken after Des was released from prison and told that his charges were dismissed which in a cruel twist was a “clerical error,” and now Des is back in custody after voluntarily surrendering himself at FMC Fort Worth surrounded by supporters. 

Read the Free Des press release about the cruel events.

Des also released a public statement on December 4:

Hello! First of all. All honor and glory to creator for granting me the miracle of being here.

My name is Daniel Sanchez “Des,” and I’ve lived in the Dallas–Fort Worth area most of my life. I have been incarcerated in a federal facility about 5 months since July 6.

I want to be very clear. I did not participate. I was not aware nor did I have any knowledge about the events that transpired on July 4 outside the Prairieland Detention Center. Despite not having any knowledge or not having been near the area at all, I was violently arrested at gunpoint for allegedly making a “wide turn.” My feeling is that I was only arrested because I’m married to Mari Rueda, who is being accused of being at the noise demo showing support to migrants who are facing deportation under deplorable conditions. For this accusation, she’s being threatened with a life sentence in prison.

My charge is allegedly having a box containing magazine “zines,” books, and artwork. Items that are in the possession of millions of people in the United States. Items that are available free online, and available to purchase at stores and online even at places like Amazon. Items that should be protected under the First Amendment “freedom of speech.” If this is happening to me now, it’s only a matter of time before it happens to you.

I believe there’s been almost 20 people arrested in supposed relation to this public noise demo. More than half of those were arrested days later despite not being in the area and are now facing a slew of outrageous charges, in what seems like a political persecution to instill fear on people exercising their First Amendment right.

On November 2 around 9 a.m. while still in federal custody, I was suddenly ordered to pack all of my property, rushing me and refusing to let me know where I was going. I began to think the worst: that I was being moved away from loved ones for no reason other than to continue to put pressure on me to sign a plea agreement for something I didn’t do. Later on, I was told my charges had been dismissed and I was being released. But since I didn’t hear from my lawyer, I thought they were messing with me. Two hours later, I was being walked out of the prison with no paperwork. It felt like psychological torture, the anxiety, the uncertainty. I imagined they would just wait for me to walk out to arrest me again somehow.

The last few days have been very surreal, and it’s been a roller coaster of emotions. The fear and anxiety that they would raid my loved ones again or try to add more fictitious charges. To the love, joy, and laughter of seeing my family and hugging them one more time after the trauma we all endured. It’s a blessing, and we celebrated my birthday, Xmas, and New Years in one night.

I’m not a violent person. I love people and animals, walking in nature, making art, reading, cooking vegan food for people, teaching kids, and doing fundraisers for people and animals that need help. I co-parent a really cool stepdaughter who is amazing and super funny, and tragically, is now having to live without two of her most important adults, [me and Mari,] who were abruptly taken away from her. I’m thankful for everyone showing her and my family love and care while we overcome this tragic situation.

This has been a confusing, bittersweet moment, embracing my loved ones, just to be taken away from them again. The charges I and others are facing are scary, and I would be lying if I said I’m not scared. I love this country and the promise of freedom of speech, justice, equity, and the pursuit of happiness. I’m not hiding. I’m not fleeing. And obvious I’ve never been a danger to the community. I’m turning myself in for trial because I’m innocent.

With a desire for a world full of love, kindness, empathy, equity, and freedom. Like in sunflowers breaking through concrete. Like butterflies flying freely. Under the same moon. I will continue to walk with dignity. I have faith and living hope in my heart.

Thank you all for the support. I can feel all of your love. I’m beyond grateful for every letter, poem, book, donation, and every prayer.

Honor creator and all existence.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
No one is free, until all are free.
Blessings.

A recent article about Des’s case is available to read on the Intercept, “The Feds Want to Make It Illegal to Even Possess an Anarchist Zine.” A zine version of this article was posted by MBTA Distro.

A public letter is available to sign on to: https://freedes.net/sign-on-letter/

And resources are available from Free Des to print and share, like the “Zines Are Not A Crime” zine or a “Zines Are Not A Crime” button sheet.

Des Zine – Imposed Version

Supporters have also been sharing images of Des’s beautiful revolutionary artwork. 

Write to Des:

Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada #95099-511
FMC Fort Worth
Federal Medical Center
P.O. Box 15330
Fort Worth, TX 76119

Reproduced below is a piece from a December 4, 2025 publication from The Intercept. It has been minorly edited for a typographical error.

Daniel Sanchez Estrada, who was arrested for transporting anarchist zines after an ICE protest, turned himself in to the feds.

For five months, Daniel Sanchez Estrada was the prisoner of a government that has branded him an “Antifa Cell operative.” He was accused of moving a box of anarchist zines from one suburb of Dallas to another after a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On the day before Thanksgiving, he was released without warning or explanation. He walked out to a jail parking lot relishing the fresh air — and watching over his shoulder.

During the week that followed, Sanchez Estrada savored his time with family members and worried that his release might have been an accident. Apparently, he was right.

“I just have to go through this process. It’s necessary to show that I’m not the person they say I am.”

On Thursday, Sanchez Estrada turned himself in to await a trial that could be months away.

It was another swerve in the case of a man who has been demonized by the federal government for actions he took after a protest against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Civil liberties advocates have decried the case against him as “guilt by literature.” (The U.S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas declined to comment and the Federal Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request.)

In a Wednesday night interview during his final hours of freedom, Sanchez Estrada said the decision to voluntarily surrender himself was gut-wrenching.

“As scary as it is, I’m innocent,” he said. “I just have to go through this process. It’s necessary to show that I’m not the person they say I am. I’m not fleeing. I’m not hiding. Because I’m innocent. I haven’t done anything.”

Sanchez Estrada spoke to The Intercept outside an ice cream shop in an upscale shopping mall in Fort Worth, Texas. He was set to turn himself back into jail 16 hours after the interview — but before that, he was treating his 12-year-old stepdaughter to sweets during his first meeting with her as a free man since his arrest in July.

Prairieland Protest

Prosecutors allege that Sanchez Estrada’s wife, Maricela Rueda, attended a chaotic protest outside ICE’s Prairieland Detention Center on July 4 that ended with a police officer wounded by gunfire. A separate defendant is the sole person accused of firing a gun at the officer.

The gathering outside the Alvarado, Texas, detention center happened in the context of huge rise in the number of immigrants detained under Trump, from 39,000 in January to 65,000 in November, which has been accompanied by reports of dire conditions inside.

Supporters of the Prairieland defendants say the protesters hoped to cause a ruckus with fireworks in a show of solidarity. The government has accused members of what it dubs the “North Texas antifa cell” of rioting and attempted murder.

No one claims that Sanchez Estrada was present at the protest. Instead, he is accused of moving anarchist zines from his parents’ house to another residence near Dallas on July 6 after Rueda called him from jail. Sanchez Estrada was arrested when the move was spotted by an FBI surveillance team, according to the government.

“My charge is allegedly having a box containing magazine ‘zines,’ books, and artwork.”

Prosecutors said the zines contained “anti-law enforcement, anti-government and anti-Trump sentiments.” In a statement made outside of his interview, Sanchez Estrada said that possession of such items is clearly protected by the First Amendment.

“My charge is allegedly having a box containing magazine ‘zines,’ books, and artwork,” Sanchez Estrada said. “Items that should be protected under the First Amendment ‘freedom of speech.’ If this is happening to me now, it’s only a matter of time before it happens to you.”

Civil liberties groups such as the Freedom of the Press Foundation have denounced his case as “guilt by literature.” They warn that his could be the first of many such prosecutions in the wake of a presidential memo from Trump targeting “antifa” and other forms of “anti-Americanism.”

The purported “North Texas antifa cell” has been cited by FBI Director Kash Patel and others as a prime example of a supposed surge in the number of attacks on ICE officers — although a recent Los Angeles Times analysis found that unlike the incident in Texas, most of those alleged attacks resulted in no injury.

Sanchez Estrada faces up to 20 years on counts of corruptly concealing a document or record and conspiracy to conceal documents. The stakes are higher for him than other defendants because he is a green card holder, which ICE spotlighted in a social media post that included his picture and immigration history. Read our complete coverage Chilling Dissent

“I Did Not Participate”

Sanchez Estrada also worries about the fate of his wife, who faces life imprisonment if convicted. She pleaded not guilty in an arraignment Wednesday. The case is currently set for trial on January 20.

“I want to be very clear. I did not participate. I was not aware nor did I have any knowledge about the events that transpired on July 4 outside the Prairieland Detention Center,” Sanchez Estrada said in his statement. “My feeling is that I was only arrested because I’m married to Mari Rueda, who is being accused of being at the noise demo showing support to migrants who are facing deportation under deplorable conditions.”

Sanchez Estrada said that he spent his months in jail anguishing over how his stepdaughter would be affected and how his parents, for whom he is the primary supporter, would make ends meet.

A nature lover who peppers his speech with references to “the creator,” for Sanchez Estrada one of the toughest things about being in jail was not being able to breathe fresh air or watch the sun set.

He said he was immediately suspicious when jail officers told him that he was being released.

“I thought they would be waiting in the parking lot to arrest me.”

“You normally would assume the worst when you’re in there. I just did not believe them. I thought they would be waiting in the parking lot to arrest me,” he said.

Soon, however, Sanchez Estrada was eating vegan tacos and spending time with friends and family.

“It is something just beautiful to see — everyone rooting for you,” he said.

He fears what could happen when he returns to custody. Still, he will have a reminder of his brief return to life on the outside: freshly inked tattoos of a raccoon and an opossum.

“They’ve been here even before people,” he said. “They’re wild animals, and they’re beautiful.”

Update: December 4, 2025, 12:58 p.m. ET
This story has been updated to reflect that, after publication, the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas declined to comment.

Reproduced below is a December 4, 2025 publication from Unicorn Riot, authored by L. Cam Anderson.

Prairieland, TX – A sprawling court case from a protest at an immigration detention center could determine how the United States government deals with dissent.

The charges originated from a protest at the Prairieland Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, where a police officer was shot.

In a superseding indictment filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern Texas on Nov. 13, prosecutors charged eight defendants with providing material support to terrorists, an increase from the two who had such charges levied against them in the initial indictment filed on Oct. 15.

“For the first time, Antifa-aligned anarchist extremists have been hit with federal terrorism charges after a July 4th attack on an ICE facility in Texas,” FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X on Oct. 17 following the initial indictment.

None of the arrested suspects have any connections to an organization named Antifa and only one was affiliated with a group that described itself as anti-fascist.

Since the beginning of the year, the federal government has been accelerating its war on the American left, targeting dissent with loose terminology and reaching for legislative and executive tools created at the turn of the century with the War on Terror. Whether this political strategy amounts to anything more than rhetoric could revolve around the outcome of the Prairieland case, which could set a precedent for bringing cases against individuals and organizations that the government labels as terrorists.

Much of the strategy was spelled out in National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM-7), a memorandum on countering domestic terrorism and organized political violence that was released on Sept. 25. The memorandum outlined “common threads” that animate a supposed rise in political violence: anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity; “extremism” on migration, race and gender; and hostility towards individuals who “hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”

The threat from such vague classifications is broad, especially as terrorism designations include financial connections.

“The same laws they create, precedent and strategies–they’ll just export it elsewhere very quickly,” said Xavier de Janon, the Director of Mass Defense at the National Lawyers Guild. “There’s no limit for the government on what Antifa is, clearly.”

De Janon compared the case to that of No More Deaths in 2019, where members of the humanitarian non-profit were charged with misdemeanors and felonies. The government charged one of the defendants with conspiracy and illegal harboring, both of which were later dropped. “They tested [that case] and it didn’t work,” de Janon said. “Now we’re at this Antifa test.”

At the signing of NSPM-7, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told the press that this marked the first all-of-government effort to “dismantle left-wing terrorism.”

The memorandum was published more than two weeks after the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10 during a speaking event, which served as a catalyst for much of what would follow.

“Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives,” Trump said in a press release just hours after the assassination, before a suspect had even been taken into custody.

Three days prior to NSPM-7 being signed, on Sept. 22, Trump declared Antifa a domestic terrorist organization through an executive order, the first ever designation of its kind in U.S. history. Not even the Ku Klux Klan received such a designation when it was bombing Black churches throughout the South.

Along with the designation came an official definition of Antifa: “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.” This definition was later used in the federal indictment.

Despite this claim, it is widely agreed upon that there is no single “Antifa” organization or network of associations. A document prepared by the Congressional Research Service in 2020 asserts that the anti-fascist movement has no organizational structure or detailed ideology, and that a wide variety exists in the groups that associate themselves with the movement depending on how those groups define fascism.

The vagueness of NSPM-7 underscores its applicability beyond Antifa. According to Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN05) in a post on X, Antifa makes up “the violent foot soldiers of the Democrat Party.”

Four European anti-fascist organizations were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the State Department on Nov. 13. The groups are Antifa Ost (Germany), the International Revolutionary Front (Italy), Armed Proletarian Justice (Greece) and Revolutionary Class Self Defense (Greece).

“It’s been said again and again by everyone you ask, including former FBI agents, former prosecutors, that there is no such thing as an Antifa organization in the United States,” de Janon said. “But when you go around it and you designate something abroad as Antifa, and then you come back here and claim, ‘Oh, there’s a North Texas Antifa cell’ … It’s like putting puzzle pieces together when there is no reality about it.”

A lot of power rests with the federal government in federal prosecutions, according to de Janon. One advantage the government has is it can put things in writing in legal documents without having to first prove it. An example of such an act is designating the Prairieland suspects as belonging to an Antifa cell without any proof that such a cell even exists.

The Department of State press release announcing the move claims it supports NSPM-7, citing the traits listed in the memorandum, that the movements are anti-American, anti-capitalist and anti-Christian.

“Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designations are one of the most powerful legal instruments in America’s counterterrorism arsenal,” according to an article written by former DOJ Counsel for Domestic Terrorism Thomas Brzozowski. “Originally conceived to combat international terrorist networks like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS), these designations trigger sweeping financial sanctions, severe criminal penalties, and extensive surveillance authorities.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on political violence on Oct. 28, where a panel of so-called experts that included the Daily Wire host Michael Knowles created a narrative that linked the Prairieland attack together with other events, such as the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in July 2024, and the Annunciation Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis this past September.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) opened the hearing with a timeline of such events, characterizing each as “far left” and connecting it with a broader conspiracy involving Congressional Democrats.

“The activists on the ground claim to be revolutionaries fighting the powers that be,” Schmitt said. “But the truth is, they were backed by the full force of the ruling regime … How often have we heard Democrats praise these radicals for their idealism? How many elected officials have called riots the language of the unheard? The violence stalking our streets today is a feature, not a bug.”

The foreign terrorist organization designation was previously floated at an Antifa roundtable held at the White House on Oct. 8, where the Trump administration invited a number of independent journalists–mostly associated with Kirk’s Turning Point USA – to share their alleged experiences with Antifa.

Self-avowed Antifa expert and senior editor for the far-right website Post Millennial Andy Ngo was one of the speakers, who Trump introduced by saying “Ngo has been repeatedly beaten by Antifa thugs. Andy is a very serious person too. Been watching him for a long time.” The Post Millennial is a Canadian media company that aggregates press releases and reporting from other media companies, spun to appeal to far-right audiences online with click bait titles, according to Right Wing Watch.

Ngo, sitting at the far end of the table, told the president that he would like to see Antifa labeled as a foreign terrorist organization. Later, a member of the press asked the president if he was willing to do just that.

“I think it’s the kind of thing I’d like to do,” Trump said. “If you agree, I agree. Let’s get it done.”

Ngo was one of the earliest individuals to tie the Prairieland attack to Antifa in an X post he made to his 1.8 million followers on July 7, only three days after the event. The slogans that appeared on some of the alleged attackers’ possessions – such as a flag reading “Resist Fascism, Fight Oligarchy” and a collection of anti-government pamphlets at one of their residences – served as his evidence.

“These are some of the most serious felony federal charges against any alleged Antifa associates in American history so far,” Ngo wrote, later claiming the suspects to be members of “a north Texas Antifa terror cell.” 

In another post to X on Oct. 28, Ngo told his audience that the Democratic Socialists of America were the closest thing to a political arm for Antifa while reposting an anti-Zohran Mamdani video from Canary Mission. Canary Mission is an anonymously run organization dedicated to doxing anti-Zionist students and professors on college campuses around the United States.

Kyle Shideler, the director and senior analyst for homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, is one of the six experts chosen by the U.S. Attorney’s office to provide testimony during the trial. Shideler’s testimony will revolve around proving the attack was carried out by Antifa.

The Center for Security Policy is a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group founded by Frank Gaffney, Jr. in 1988 after his tenure in the Reagan administration as the deputy secretary of defense for nuclear forces and arms control policy. In recent years, the organization has been peddling great replacement conspiracy theories, that Europe has been taken over by Muslims and that a similar demographic replacement is occurring in the United States.

On July 11, less than a week after the attack on the Prairieland ICE facility, Shideler wrote an article for The Federalist titled “Terrorist Attack in Texas Demands Federal Targeting of Antifa.” In the article, he claims to have studied Antifa for the past decade and suggests that “violent left-wing anti-ICE rhetoric” is to blame.

“As the Trump administration heads further into its four-year term, we can expect Antifa to continue to escalate,” Shideler writes. “The logic of trending violence is baked into its terrorist DNA.”

Before he was named by the prosecution for expert testimony, Shideler wrote an article for the conservative think tank the Claremont Institute on how the U.S. government can dismantle far-left extremist networks. In the article, Shideler writes that the government should form a presidential task force that unilaterally uses all executive agencies to pursue and uproot the far-left. To get to that point, he suggests finding and prosecuting test cases to build a foundation of case law that can support this mission.

“The president must direct the creation of the Far-Left Violent Extremist category and implement its immediate use across all departments and agencies,” Shideler writes. “It must explicitly include ‘anti-fascist’ (Antifa), anarchist, autonomous Marxist, socialist, Marxist-Leninist, Maoist, and Communist extremists…”

He goes on to include single-issue groups on topics like environmentalism and abortion, which he alleges are often used to indoctrinate their activists into a revolutionary cause.

In response to the State Department’s announcement that they were designating four Antifa-associated groups as foreign terrorist organizations, Shideler posted to X to underscore the significance of the move.

“This gets our foot in the door to start collections on Antifa internationally and opens up the larger Antifa network to secondary sanctions, aimed at the groups that provide material support and bind the various action cells together,” Shideler wrote.

Following a few fights at a Turning Point USA event at the University of California, Berkeley, on Nov. 11, Attorney General Pam Bondi made a statement on her X account further escalating the rhetoric against anti-fascists.

“Antifa is an existential threat to our nation,” Bondi wrote.

The two Prairieland defendants facing material support for terrorism charges were set to go to trial on Nov. 24, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed for extra time to prepare the case due to its complexity on Nov. 3. Fifteen other defendants received plea offers from the government, which their support network claims would result in up to 15 years in federal prison for most.

On Nov. 15, five of the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges levied against them by the federal government. In doing so, they agreed to the set of facts as laid out by the prosecutors.

In the stipulated facts of the plea agreement, they agreed that those “who participated in the acts against Prairieland adhered to an anti-fascist, anti-I.C.E., anti-government ideology, which the government classifies as Antifa.”

“Trump does not distinguish between these defendants, Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialists of America, 50501, or anyone else standing against him,” the defendants’ support committee wrote on their website. “They are coming for undocumented migrants, they are coming for supporters of Palestine, they are coming for anyone who objects to ICE’s violence.”

Cover image contributed by L. Cam Anderson. Images via Niko Georgiades for Unicorn Riot unless otherwise noted.