Texans are facing increasing repression by both the federal and state governments. Those on the frontlines of protecting people targeted by the state are especially being met with this repression in spite of our constitutional right to protest and dissent. Instead of listening to us, the government is arresting protestors, creating false narratives about their actions, and wholly ignoring their own obligation to due process.
Acknowledging this, we have formed a committee of loved ones, friends and comrades of defendants who are committed to supporting them through the legal process and have experience with legal support and anti-repression organizing.
We do not know what happened at the Prairieland Detention Center on July 4th, but we do know that 11 people were arrested and still sit in jail without legal representation. The framing of the case by the federal government should be concerning to all of us. The glaring inconsistencies in the official narrative and the alarmist accusations are a clear attempt to bolster the Trump administration’s claims that the United States is on the verge of chaos, warranting a dramatic increase in militarized police action. This, in turn, will almost certainly be used as a justification for broader expansion of repression not only of popular movements but all political activity in opposition to Trump and his regime. As such, what is happening to the 11 people connected to the Prairieland Detention Center protest should be a concern for anyone who does not want to see this country descend further into authoritarianism.
The Trump administration has consistently shown that it lies and distorts facts to advance its political narratives. In particular, they created news and propaganda that seem to confirm the far-right conspiracy theories that have fed Trump’s rise to power. Time and again these narratives have been proven false and dangerous.
These 11 people are some of the first arrested under this unbelievable narrative, but we should expect this sort of repression to spread further and wider. Trump does not distinguish between these defendants, Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialists of America, 50501, or anyone else standing against him. They are coming for undocumented migrants, they are coming for supporters of Palestine, they are coming for those protesting ICE’s violence.
The first months of this adminstration have been a disaster. People have been kidnapped in broad daylight by masked agents and sent to hellish prison camps in other countries, with detention centers like Prarieland as stopping points along the way. Natural disasters have killed hundreds with little warning or care from the government, and even now we’re still trying to count the losses from flooding in North Texas. Decades of advancement in public health have being eviscerated: measles killed more children in Texas in the last month than in the last 30 years. Transgender people are being erased from our society. US-made bombs are slaughtering millions around the world. The list goes on. People see the nightmare that is unfolding, and the state is furiously looking for ways to distract, confuse, immobilize, and terrify. In this context, it should be clear that these recent criminal charges in Alvarado, Texas, are a dangerous and unconscionable stunt in service of this goal.
We are all affected by these disasters already, but criminalization of protest means that we risk arrest and worse as the state moves to crush everyone under its power.
However, the people of this country will not accept authoritarian rule. From the initial waves of protest, resistance and antagonism have generalized and deepened. It has involved not only elected officials and formal organizations, but more importantly, millions of ordinary people taking bold action to protect their communities and reclaim their autonomy. This spreading resistance has been met with violent state repression such as deployment of active duty military on the streets of Los Angeles and the arrest of sitting judges and US senators. Now the state is attempting to ruin the lives of 11 people and their communities in North Texas. It is clear that no amount of appeasement and capitulation will stop these threats to our freedoms. We must then support those facing repression and not bow to this state terror.
This is a historic moment and what will happen next is not clear. What we do know is that the best chance for all of us to live full and free lives is to join together and be brave. We in the DFW Support Committee have no choice but to push forward and fight for those we care deeply about who are currently sitting in jail. To the rest of you, we call on you to join us in our support. We will be releasing future updates and statements about concrete actions people can take. The first and most important action today is raising funds so that these 11 people have the best legal defense possible.
You can find our fundraiser at https://www.givesendgo.com/supportdfwprotestors and can contact us at dfwsupportcommittee@hacari.com.