This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Needs updated information about the proceedings of the trials and the actual attack. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2025)
Approximately 12 individuals involved in initial incident; 15-17 persons charged in total
The 2025 Alvarado ICE facility attack, also known as the Prairieland attack, occurred at the Prairieland Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, United States, on the evening of July 4, 2025. Officials describe a coordinated plot in which about 12 individuals in black clothing and body armor allegedly used fireworks and vandalism to draw out officers and ambush them with rifles. One Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck and later released from hospital care. Local reporting and court documents identify ten individuals arrested shortly after; an alleged shooter was arrested on July 15 after a manhunt, and several alleged associates were also arrested. Several members of the initial group were tied to left wing organizations or protest activities, and anti-government, anti-ICE, and anarchist documents were found.[1][2] As of September 23, according to local media, between fifteen[3] and seventeen individuals[4] had been charged in association with the events.
The initial group of about 12 suspects[1][4] gathered near the Prairieland detention center at 10:37 pm,[4] all dressed in black military-style clothing. In an alleged diversion intended to draw ICE detention center officers out into the open, fireworks were set off, and two people separated from the main group and spray-painted vehicles and a guard structure.[1][5][6] Among the slogans spray-painted by the pair were "Ice pig" and "traitor".[1][6] Instead of immediately confronting the group directly, ICE officers reported the incident to local law enforcement.[5][6] Two ICE officers emerged from the compound at 10:58 pm and Alvarado police arrived immediately afterwards at 10:59 pm.[4] At least one of two people positioned in wooded area with AR-15 style rifles began shooting at arriving Alvarado police almost immediately, striking an Alvarado officer in the neck; federal court documents unsealed the following week did not specify who the alleged shooters were, and said that about 30 rounds were fired.[1] Later court documents revised the total number of rounds fired to 11.[4]
Law enforcement caught nine suspects soon after they fled the scene, recovering AR-15 style rifles, 12 sets of body armor, two-way radios, spray paint masks, and flyers with slogans ("Fight ICE terror with class war", "Free all political prisoners").[1][5] Seven suspects were found at a nearby intersection, while one was found fleeing on foot about 3 miles (4.8km) away.[1] A van seen leaving the scene was pulled over by an Alvarado detective, and the driver admitted to transporting people to the ICE facility to "make some noise". Two AR-15 style rifles, two ballistic vests, a handgun, and a ballistic helmet were found in the van; the driver was arrested and jailed.[1][6] One suspect was found with cellphones inside a bag of the type used to block wireless signals.[5]
At least two persons suspected of direct involvement in the attack are said to have evaded the initial pursuit. One was arrested the next day in Oak Cliff.[1] Another suspect, a 32-year-old male former US Marine Corps reservist, is believed to have hidden in the nearby woods; he was arrested by federal authorities on July 15 after a manhunt.[2] At least two additional suspects were arrested for allegedly helping him evade capture.[3]
One of the incident suspects called her mother from jail and asked her to contact a man who had not been arrested; the man then contacted the jailed suspect, who asked him to "move whatever you need to from the house" and tow her car from another jailed suspect's house. FBI agents monitored the man as he arrived at his Garland house, removed several packages, and dropped off a box at a Denton apartment. Federal agents subsequently raided the apartment, discovering anti-government and anarchist documents in what appeared to be the box seen earlier.[1] On July 7,[7] the man was arrested in Denton and charged with tampering with evidence and conspiring to tamper with evidence. He was married to one of the shooting incident suspects, ICE said.[1] The man, a Dallas teacher, was released on bond but was subsequently arrested two more times, once for deleting messages from the Signal and Discord messaging apps, and again for what officials describe as an attempt to modify a Nintendo Game Boy as a remote triggering device for explosives.[8][9]
Affiliations and ideology
The former reservist was named in a 2023 lawsuit involving the Elm Fork chapter of the John Brown Gun Club (JBGC), in a counter-protest at a Fort Worth drag show, where members of Elm Fork JBGC were providing security for the event.[2] Some suspects arrested have backgrounds in protest activism and prior protest-related arrests, including five suspects who had been arrested in 2016 at Texas A&M University while attempting to disrupt a speech there by white supremacist figure Richard B. Spencer.[1] Slogans and materials recovered bear anti-ICE, anti-government, and left wing language.[1]
Investigation
After his arrest on July 15, authorities identified the former reservist as one of the shooters, saying he purchased one AR-15 style rifle found at the shooters' position. The trigger of the rifle had been modified for rapid fire, most likely after purchase.[2] He purchased four of the guns recovered in the investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.[1][7]
At least three additional suspects were arrested and identified. A man and a woman were charged with helping the former reservist evade capture.[3] Another woman was held on sealed charges, but jail records indicate she was being held for hindering prosecution of terrorism.[4]
On September 22, six women were arraigned at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth on charges related to the incident.[7] Supporters of the women dispute conspiracy claims and said the women believed they were attending a peaceful protest.[5] The following day, eight men were arraigned at the Fort Worth court on charges relating to the incident. One was ordered held in jail as a flight risk, but the others were released pending a preliminary detention hearing scheduled for September 30.[3]
Reports of the total number of suspects vary. On September 23, The Dallas Morning News reported the total number of suspects as fifteen,[3] while the Fort Worth Star-Telegram listed the number as seventeen.[4] On September 24, The New York Times reported that "more than a dozen" people had been charged in association with the attack.[6] That same day, CBS News reported that ten people had been charged with attempted murder of a federal officer and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, facing a mandatory sentence of ten years to life in prison.[10]
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