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In the early<\/span> morning hours of June 29, federal agents from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security conducted a raid on home in Midlothian, Texas, in the Dallas\u2013Fort Worth metropolitan area.<\/p>\n The raid, which saw federal agents deploying flash-bang grenades and using armored vehicles, was authorized by a federal search warrant related to an ongoing federal investigation into an alleged bomb plot\u00a0at a June 14 Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House. The Justice Department characterized<\/a> the case as an assassination plot against high-ranking officials using of explosive drones and sniper rifles.<\/p>\n The search\u00a0warrant in Midlothian was issued as part of federal agents\u2019 search for evidence\u00a0of several potential charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, according to documents viewed by The Intercept.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are stress-testing the limits of NSPM-7.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n The subject of the raid in Texas claimed that, in the days after the raid, federal agents returned to her home and offered her up to $200,000 to act as an informant for federal law enforcement. The resident, \u201cDoberman,\u201d who asked only to be identified only by her social media handle because of ongoing threats to her safety, has not been indicted on any charges. Doberman also said she was visited by agents from the FBI and Secret Service weeks before the raid.<\/p>\n The raid was part of a sweeping effort by the federal government and far-right media figures to spin up a vast far-left conspiracy casting antifascist activists as well-organized extremists who pose a threat to public safety.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump has made attacks on antifascist activists a centerpiece of his domestic crackdown on the left<\/a>, designating antifa a terrorist organization and issuing directives like the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 to focus resources<\/a> on going after left-wing activists.<\/p>\n The crackdown recently helped spur centuries\u2019 worth of combined prison sentences<\/a> for a clutch of left-wing activists who launched a protest at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s Prairieland Detention Facility, just a 20-minutes drive from Midlothian.<\/p>\n First Amendment advocates said the Midlothian raid fit into the widespread pattern of aggressive policing tactics being used against the left, including other attempts to flip activists<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThey are stress-testing the limits of NSPM-7, both by trying to cast various groups or voluntary associations that are protected by the First Amendment as being antifa, or as falling within the ambit of this sort of very broad definition of terrorism,\u201d said Moira Meltzer-Cohen, a New York-based attorney who represents defendants in federal cases but is not working on the Midlothian raid. \u201cWe see that with this thing in North Texas, we saw that in Prairieland, and we\u2019re seeing that in Minneapolis\u201d \u2014 a reference to the recent indictments<\/a> of 15 anti-ICE activists<\/a> in Minnesota.<\/p>\n Doberman is a well-known activist in north Texas left-wing circles. She has been filmed armed at protests and is a member of a group known as the Community Liberation Brigade.<\/p>\n In the days before the raid, a Dallas Express op-ed by a local right-wing activist identified Doberman as a leader of the Community Liberation Brigade. The article suggested that Doberman had ties to the Pairieland defendants \u2014 a case that saw the government\u2019s first successful<\/a> prosecution under Trump\u2019s directives<\/a> against antifa. It\u2019s unclear what role, if any, the Dallas Express op-ed played in the raid.<\/p>\n Doberman, who told The Intercept she doesn\u2019t have any ties to the Prairieland defendants, said she was questioned about the case during the raid. Authorities also asked Doberman about people named in recent federal indictments surrounding the UFC plot, where the most serious charges included conspiracy to commit murder \u2014 the same charge that appeared on the search warrant for Doberman\u2019s home.<\/p>\n Because of the ongoing investigation, the Secret Service directed questions about Doberman\u2019s case to the Justice Department. The Department of Homeland Security referred questions to the FBI. Neither the Justice Department nor the FBI immediately responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Two weeks before the Midlothian raid, federal agents tried to question Doberman about the alleged plot to attack the UFC 250 event, an extravagant mixed martial arts performance hosted by the White House as part of its celebrations of 250 years of American independence.<\/p>\n Two men who identified themselves as federal agents from the FBI and Secret Service arrived at Doberman\u2019s door, according to video footage of the encounter obtained by The Intercept.<\/p>\n In the footage, one of the agents assures Doberman that she is \u201cnot in trouble\u201d and asks her if she knows anything about an impending attack. Doberman replies that she doesn\u2019t know anything about any plot. When asked if she plans to travel to Washington, she says she is \u201cbroke as fuck.\u201d Shortly after, Doberman declined to answer further questions and instructs the agents to come back with a warrant.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cRifles Trained Directly at Me\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n