New statement posted to legal fundraiser for those arrested in #Texas at anti-ICE rally:

"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 administration 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."

Read full statement here: https://www.givesendgo.com/supportdfwprotestors