A judge declared a mistrial on the first day of the first-known antifa terrorism trial, faulting the conduct of a defense attorney for what she chose to wear during jury selection.
The criminal proceedings, considered the first-ever in U.S. history to try suspected antifa members on federal terrorism charges, will restart next week with the jury-picking process.
On Tuesday, Judge Mark Pittman called out the “politically charged” outfit choice of MarQuetta Clayton, a Black Lives Matter activist and the criminal defense attorney for one of the nine co-defendants accused of attacking an immigration detention center in July 2025 as part of a Texas antifa cell.
Clayton was wearing a T-shirt with messaging about civil rights accompanied by images of Shirley Chisholm, the first black congresswoman, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Pittman noticed Clayton’s shirt about 22 minutes after she started questioning the panel of prospective jurors. While asking questions to decide who to strike from the jury pool, Clayton mentioned the death of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, which occurred that morning, framing the defense’s position as being on the side of justice.
“I don’t know why in the world you would think that’s appropriate,” Pittman reportedly told Clayton, per NPR North Texas.
Pittman, noting that he admired Chisholm and King, compared Clayton’s shirt to a scenario in which a prosecutor wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement pin or a shirt showing President Donald Trump “riding an eagle with an ICE flag.”
The federal judge, a Trump appointee, raised concerns about such attire, regardless of the wearer’s political beliefs, possibly intimidating or influencing jurors toward a particular view.
“Politics — as prevalent as they are, as divided as they are — don’t have any business here,” Pittman said.
Clayton, who is running to be a criminal court judge in Tarrant County, Texas, often dons clothing displaying political messages.
She is representing Maricela Rueda, one of nine alleged co-conspirators facing trial for a slew of charges, including attempted murder of federal officials and providing material support to terrorists. The ambush on July 4, 2025, allegedly intended to assassinate the ICE personnel who were guarding the Prairieland facility, left a local police officer shot in the neck.
Seven other self-admitted cell members have confessed that they belong to an antifa faction based in the Dallas area, and some of those now-convicted antifa associates are slated to testify against the accused.
Pittman said he had never declared a mistrial before Tuesday but found that Clayton’s clothing could prejudice jurors in favor of the defendants.
“It’s what [the shirt is] suggesting that’s improper,” Pittman ruled.
Pittman suggested that Clayton was attempting to visually equate the civil rights movement with the Prairieland shooting.
Dismissing the dozens of people called for jury duty, Pittman added, “I’m left with no other choice.”
“This has to be a first in the history of American jurisprudence, I would think,” Pittman said of a mistrial of this nature, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The trial will tentatively start again on Monday, with jury selection from a new pool of candidates.
Clayton was spotted leaving the federal courthouse with her shirt turned inside out. A later hearing will decide at some point whether Clayton’s conduct warrants any sanctions. Pittman said the rules of conduct for trial stipulate that graphic tees are strictly forbidden.
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A group of antifa activists gathered across the street, waving signage demanding that authorities “free all the Prairieland defendants!” Investigative journalist Andy Ngo reported that antifa organizers are directing their followers to pack the courthouse throughout the trial.
The spectator gallery poured into an overflow room on Tuesday. Several attendees appearing in support of the defendants complained that the court rules do not allow spectators to sport face coverings, a common antifa tactic that shields one’s identity.