(The Center Square)–Ten people have been arrested so far in a “planned ambush” of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in north Texas.
On July 4, the Alvarado Police Department announced that one of its police officers had been shot in the neck after responding to a call without stating the incident occurred outside of an immigration facility. It was the first of two officer involved shootings outside of a federal immigration facility in Texas this week, The Center Square first reported.
Since then, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Susan Larson provided more details about an attack that occurred around 11 pm on July 4 at the ICE Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. The facility, which opened in 2017, is owned by the City of Alvarado, operated by LaSelle Corrections and has a 707-bed capacity.
What occurred was “a planned ambush with the intent to kill ICE corrections officers,” Larson said. “Make no mistake, this was not a so-called peaceful protest. It was indeed an ambush” to draw out people from inside “and it worked.”
Larson said that 10-12 people dressed in black, wearing tactical gear and body armor, first shot fireworks at the facility for a period of time before a 911 call was made. Then, “two unarmed corrections officers went outside to speak with the vandals,” she said. Once the first Alvarado Police officer arrived, an assailant hiding in the woods shot him in the neck; another assailant across the street shot 20-30 rounds at the unarmed corrections officers, she said.
After Johnson County sheriff’s deputies arrived, they apprehended multiple individuals attempting to flee who were wearing body armor, some of whom were armed. Deputies also found a jammed AR-style rifle at the scene as well as other weapons, 12 sets of body armor, two-way radios, spray paint, a flag stating “resist fascism, fight oligarchy,” and flyers stating, “fight ICE terror with class war, free all political prisoners.”
The alleged vandals had spraypainted phrases on vehicles and a guard structure stating, “traitor,” “ICE pig,” and profanity, Larson said.
Josh Johnson, acting field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations-Dallas said, “This type of vigilante lawlessness is emblematic of the dangers federal, state and local law enforcement officials face every day. Within ICE alone, our officers and agents are facing a 700% increase in assaults.”
That’s a 200 percentage point increase from three weeks ago when attacks were up by 500%, The Center Square reported.
“Violence and attempts of vandalism at our ICE facilities will not deter our officers from fulfilling their duties,” Johnson said. “The courageous officers of ICE-ERO Dallas are on the streets and in our detention facilities every day, risking their lives to locate, arrest and remove criminal aliens.”
After making arrests and obtaining warrants, law enforcement officers conducted additional searches and found body armor, tactical gear, a weapons cache and “insurrectionist material,” Larson said.
Ten individuals were each charged with three counts of attempted murder of a federal officer and three counts of discharging a firearm related to a crime of violence. Each defendant faces a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison and up to life in prison. One co-conspirator was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy for attempting to conceal and destroy evidence and faces up to 10 years in prison, she said.
No employees at the ICE facility were harmed; vandalism damage is being evaluated, Johnson said.
He also expressed thanks for “the collaboration with our partners at all levels,” saying, “We could not perform our duties without their support.”
ICE ERO Dallas also “deployed special response team operators to provide extra layers of protection at the Prairieland Detention Center,” he said.
The July 4 attack is also “part of an increasing trend of violence” against law enforcement officers in the Northern District of Texas, Larson said. They totaled seven each in 2021 and 2022, 11 in 2023, 18 in 2024 and 9 so far this year, she said.
“Those who use violence against law enforcement officers will be found,” she said. “They will be prosecuted with the toughest criminal statutes and penalties that we have available to us.”
An ongoing investigation is being led by FBI. Members of the public have been asked to provide any information they may have about the incident by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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