Reproduced below is a statement of support for the Prairieland Defendants issued by the National Lawyers Guild, which describes itself as the oldest and largest progressive bar association in the United States. It was published on October 17, 2025.
Yesterday, a new indictment was revealed in North Texas that uses Trump’s new directive to go after “antifa” to prosecute the Prairieland Defendants. This is the first instance where the Trump Administration has framed “antifa” as a terrorist group in a criminal case. The National Lawyers Guild stands with anti-ICE dissent and calls for solidarity with the Prairieland Defendants. We cannot tolerate the dangerous criminalization of a noise demonstration against ICE.
The U.S. government is no stranger in designating groups within the U.S. as enemies. It did so during the Second Red Scare, against alleged communists. The FBI declared war on the Civil Rights movement and crushed the Black Panther movement. In the middle of the so-called “war on terror”, it discretely framed environmentalists as “domestic terrorists” during the Green Scare. More recently, the supporters of the Free Palestine movement have been systematically attacked, and Stop Cop City protesters have been targeted as “domestic terrorists”. With each new wave of popular protest, the U.S. government has invested in creating enemies where there are none.
That same federal government is attempting to paint a picture of organized “antifa” members, armed and willing to commit violence, in Texas. This is not the case. On July 4, people stood up for immigrants outside an ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, as thousands are doing elsewhere, through a noise demonstration. We know what the current administration is doing against anti-ICE dissent: using the FBI to target political enemies.
Importantly, Texans routinely show up to protest with guns. It is not an anomaly, particularly because there is always a threat of armed right-wing counter protesters. Meanwhile, the federal government is allowing ICE and CBP to shoot and kill people, while using the National Guard to intimidate protestors. It is making enemies out of people exercising their First Amendment rights.
We are alarmed by the appearance of federal prosecutors and agents coordinating with the Alvarado Police Department and Johnston County District Attorney’s Office to indefinitely detain the Prairieland Defendants through concurrent, extreme state and federal charges. Despite this incident occurring over three months ago, with allegations against defendants who weren’t even at the noise demonstration, the government is only now declaring that there was a so-called “antifa terrorist cell”, pursuant to Trump’s new directive. We reject the validity of these new claims.
We must continue to fearlessly stand up for immigrants and against fascism.
Support the Prairieland Defendants here: https://dfwdefendants.wordpress.com