The police officer, who was shot in the neck, and detention officers finalize their testimony on Feb. 25 in the landmark trial.
DALLAS—Police and detention officers testifying in the North Texas Antifa trial gave eyewitness accounts of the nighttime attack on an immigration holding facility that left one officer shot in the neck and others fearing for their lives.
The government witnesses wrapped up their testimony on the third day of the Fort Worth, Texas, trial surrounding a shooting the federal government alleges was a coordinated attack by the Antifa far-left extremist group on the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas on July 4, 2025.
Members of Antifa, short for anti-fascists, had not faced terrorism-related charges in the United States until this incident, despite being involved in organized protests across the country that have at times turned violent.
The trial follows President Donald Trump’s executive order on Sept. 22, 2025, designating the group as a domestic terrorist organization.
Antifa is modeled after a militant group that worked as the violent arm of the Communist Party of Germany starting in the 1930s. Some symbols from the original group are still used by the movement today, such as the raised-fist salute.
Alvarado police Lt. Thomas Gross, who was shot after responding to a 911 call to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, testified that he saw a guard chasing a person dressed in black with a face covering.
Gross said he got out of his vehicle and saw another person dressed in black carrying a rifle.
“At this point, the scene is becoming extremely chaotic,” he said. “I believe I was getting ambushed.”
Loud noises and shouting could be heard during a recording from the police officer’s vehicle after he got out, including someone yelling twice, “Get to the rifles.”
Detention supervisor Cindy Harp testified that she and officer Dekeithon Reedy were both unarmed as they went outside to investigate the loud noises.
After leaving the building, she heard someone with a bullhorn speaking in Spanish. Then, she heard someone tell her that she should be proud of herself for working at a detention facility.
She could not clearly see who was there because they were all dressed in black and wearing masks, but she testified that she heard roughly four people talking.
Harp told the intruders that they were on private property and needed to leave.
“I was in shock, and I’m kind of nervous because nobody’s supposed to be there,” she testified.
