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Police officers watch demonstrators marching around Pike Park to protest against President Trump and Republican leaders near the venue of the Republican convention at American Airlines Center, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Two anti-Trump<\/a> protesters arrested during a march against the Republican midterm convention<\/a> are accused of assaulting a street preacher with a history of antagonizing Islamic and LGBTQ<\/a> groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas police arrested the two, identified as Adrian Garcia, 19, and Hunter Holmes, 23, Thursday afternoon during the march. The duo was among scores of protesters who set off from Pike Park bound for the American Airlines Center, where the final day of the GOP convention was being held.\u00a0<\/p>\n The march, organized by the Dallas Against the Trump Agenda coalition, an alliance of progressive, socialist and anti-war groups, was turned away from the arena by officers in riot gear and on horseback. Police monitored the demonstration, temporarily closing roadways as they then moved through Uptown.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Related: Anti-Trump march toward Dallas GOP convention redirected at police line<\/a><\/p>\n Holmes faces two counts of assault causing bodily injury and one count of obstructing a highway. Garcia, a Dallas resident, also faces three misdemeanor charges: assault causing bodily injury, obstructing a highway and interfering with public duties.\u00a0<\/p>\n Police said Holmes was carrying a handgun reported stolen out of Harris County at the time of the arrest. A search of an FBI database flagged a \u201cpossible known terrorist organization member hit\u201d for Holmes, the affidavit says.<\/p>\n The affidavit does not include details about the alleged affiliation. An FBI spokesperson declined to provide additional information Friday.<\/p>\n Garcia, who is on probation after pleading guilty in 2025 to a felony offense, and Holmes are being held on $15,000 bail in Dallas County jail. They could not immediately be reached for comment on the charges, and it was not clear whether they had attorneys.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Protestors march along Harry Hines Boulevard against President Donald Trump\u2019s administration on the final day of the Republican convention, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n Shafkat Anowar\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Related:\u00a0While Republicans rally in Dallas, Democrats call out affordability, corruption as paths to victory<\/a><\/p>\n The protesters arrived at the Thursday afternoon march with plate carriers with ballistic plate inserts, according to the affidavit, and refused to comply with commands from police to clear the street. The street preacher, Christopher\u00a0Svochak, told police they shoved him to the ground after he confronted the march, causing Svochak to fall and suffer scrapes and cuts to his knee.<\/p>\n Police said Svochak did not require any medical assistance. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment by phone and Facebook messenger on Friday.<\/p>\n Svochak is the leader of Kingdom Reconcilers, an evangelical Christian group that preaches at pride festivals or Islamic gatherings. He and another counter protester, Ricardo Yepez, came to the Pike Park gathering with a megaphone, at times taunting the demonstrators with LGBTQ slurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Svochak has his own complicated past with the law \u2014 facing charges in Florida earlier this year after he disrupted a student prayer gathering. He has since posted various videos to social media showing confrontations with Muslim individuals around North Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Police officers detain a protester during a march against President Trump and Republican leaders that started from Pike Park near the venue of the Republican convention at American Airlines Center, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Related: Dallas prepares for Trump midterm convention \u2014 and protests \u2014 on a shorter timeline<\/a><\/p>\n Svochak took to social media to allege the two protesters were affiliated with Antifa, a far left political movement the Trump administration labeled as a terrorist organization last September.\u00a0<\/p>\n The designation is a part of the administration\u2019s broader crackdown on far left groups it associates with political violence. Earlier this summer, federal judges handed down eight lengthy sentences<\/a> for people tied to a protest outside an Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement facility in Alvarado, where\u00a0a police officer was shot<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Prosecutors described the defendants as members of a North Texas \u201cantifa cell,\u201d a characterization some of their defense lawyers disputed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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