![\"North](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jane-Collins-main.png\")
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Jane Collins at a meeting of Texas alliance for Retired Americans shaking hands with Congressional candidate Zeeshan Hafeez.| Gene Lantz\/People’s World<\/p>\n
Jane Collins is a pleasant, grey-haired senior from Arlington, Texas. She has a raging sense of justice.<\/p>\n
On February 19, she helped arrange a fundraiser for the Prairieland 9 at her church. The nine will soon be facing exceptionally long sentences in the federal court in Fort Worth. They are accused of just about everything from graffiti to terrorism and attempted murder.<\/p>\n
Collins says that the federal judge is a MAGA Republican. A possible tip on his attitude came on the first day of jury selection when he declared a mistrial because an attorney wore a shirt with a picture of Martin Luther King Jr under her jacket. \u201cHis goal is to make sure that he has a jury that will convict,\u201d says Collins.<\/p>\n
Discussion about the case, about the actual facts, about the role of ICE, and about the far-reaching significance of the charges filed\u00a0by both federal and Texas authorities, is bubbling its way through conversations among North Texas activists.<\/p>\n
The official version, echoing over and over again in commercial news coverage, is that a small group of activists and pranksters shot off firecrackers on July 4th, 2025, outside the ICE detention center in the tiny town of Alvarado, population 8,000, just south of Fort Worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reporters claim that they painted graffiti on an automobile and slashed tires. Then, the reporters say, somebody grabbed a rifle and shot a superficial wound into a deputy sheriff\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n
Fifteen people, some of whom were not in Alvarado that night, were rounded up. At least five are taking plea deals and face up to 15 years in prison at their sentencing in early March.<\/p>\n
It is difficult to get the accused\u2019s side of the story, because they have been held behind bars for the entire six months with bail set in the millions of dollars.\u00a0 In some of the local discussions, activists believe that the government(s) have sinister purposes: they want to provide a test case to validate President Trump\u2019s outrageous declaration that anybody who opposes fascism is a terrorist.<\/p>\n
Jane Collins has been following the case and has talked to family members.\u00a0 \u201cThis is a political trial,\u201d she says. Further, \u201cI don\u2019t believe anybody shot anybody!\u201d If a Deputy Sheriff was really injured, Collins says, it was likely caused by fireworks similar to bottle rockets. She doesn\u2019t believe the government\u2019s charges or public statements. \u201cNobody can tell what is really true in these Trump days,\u201d Collins says.<\/p>\n
Collins is old enough to remember when peaceful civil rights leaders were shot down by police. \u201cYou know what they did to the Black Panthers,\u201d she recalls. A longtime activist, Collins does not believe that guns have any place in today\u2019s movement. \u201cYou cannot win with rifles,\u201d she says. \u201cIf somebody actually did take a gun and shoot it, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if it wasn\u2019t a provocateur,\u201d Collins concludes.<\/p>\n
She is positively impressed with the kinds of people who are raising funds and providing support for those in jail. The overall group is named \u201cDFW Support Committee.\u201d \u00a0One of them came and spoke at her church service.\u00a0 At the fundraiser, at least 60 showed up. Some of them identified themselves as \u201cPanther City Anarchists,\u201d a mutual aid organization. \u201cPanther City\u201d is a humorous name sometimes used for Fort Worth.<\/p>\n
Support rallies have already begun outside the Fort Worth trial building. As an exceptionally small courtroom was chosen, overflow crowds will be seated in nearby Dallas.<\/p>\n
We hope you appreciated this article. At\u00a0People\u2019s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading\u00a0People\u2019s World\u00a0and the stories we bring you, please\u00a0support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today<\/a>. Thank you!<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCONTRIBUTOR<\/p>\n
![\"Gene](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GeneLantz-1-200x200.jpg\")
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