Socialist and communist organizations activated a Texas-wide network within hours of an ICE officer shooting a Venezuelan illegal alien in North Austin, using national and local accounts to summon supporters, circulate nearly identical allegations and amplify footage of the growing crowd. The coordinated campaign included a Dallas-Fort Worth chapter and preceded street violence that injured three police officers.
Public posts and a Fox News Digital investigation show the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Democratic Socialists of America and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization promoting the same location and framing the shooting as ‘ICE terror,’ ‘police violence’ or part of a pattern of killings before federal investigators released a use-of-force account.
The online campaign undercuts portrayals of the unrest as merely an unplanned neighborhood response. It does not establish that every person who appeared at the scene belonged to one of the organizations, but the groups’ own posts document a deliberate mobilization that moved rapidly from breaking-news messaging to an organized demonstration.
The political response also collided with what DX documented firsthand during a March ride-along. A veteran ICE officer said the law and the agency’s operations had not changed, while attempts to flee and ram agents’ vehicles had become more common.
Federal investigators are examining the Austin officer’s use of force. Any conclusion must rest on the evidence.
Texas network activates within hours
The shooting occurred at approximately 12:56 p.m. Sunday near Anderson Square and Research Boulevard. At about 4:19 p.m., PSL’s national account issued a capital-letter post announcing that a man had been shot by ICE agents and declaring, ‘ICE OUT OF AUSTIN NOW!’
PSL’s Austin chapter then circulated the same breaking-news graphic through a collaborative Instagram post involving the national organization and chapters in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Waco. The post had drawn more than 5,400 likes and 2,300 shares or sends by Monday evening, Fox News reported.
The DFW connection gives the mobilization a North Texas dimension. A statewide political network immediately packaged and distributed the Austin enforcement encounter beyond the local community.
Austin DSA soon advertised an ‘Emergency Demonstration/Vigil’ at 8121 Research Boulevard from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The group called it a ‘spontaneous protest’ while simultaneously directing supporters to a specific place and time. FRSO’s Austin chapter also published graphics alleging that ICE had shot an ‘unarmed civilian’ and describing the incident as part of ‘ICE violence and killings,’ Fox News reported.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, DSA’s national program calls for ending immigrant detention and deportations, granting immediate amnesty regardless of current status and allowing noncitizens to vote. DX also documented the organization’s North Texas footprint.
Revolutionary goals stated openly
The labels socialist and communist come from the organizations themselves. PSL’s official program says capitalism cannot be voted out of power and that ‘it will take a revolution.’ The document describes the military, police, intelligence agencies and courts as institutions defending capitalist interests.
FRSO states in its own program that it applies Marxism-Leninism and is working to build ‘a new, revolutionary, communist party’ capable of taking power. Its program says the organization wants to replace capitalism through revolutionary means.
Fox News also connected PSL’s protest activity to a wider ecosystem that includes BreakThrough News, the People’s Forum, CodePink and the ANSWER Coalition.
The investigation reported that several organizations in that network have received funding linked to American tech entrepreneur Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai. That funding relationship does not establish that Singham directed the Austin demonstration.
Messaging moves into the street
By 5:44 p.m., PSL’s national and Austin accounts were amplifying a live video from the scene with the message, ‘Austinites flooding the streets.’ At 8:27 p.m., the national account demanded Garces Perez’s release, called for the agent’s arrest and urged supporters to follow the example of Minneapolis ‘until ICE terror is defeated.’ The expanded statement spread through another collaborative post across PSL’s Texas and national accounts.
The crowd near the shooting scene grew into the hundreds. Demonstrators blocked the roadway, lit fireworks and waved large Mexican flags. Some people threw rocks, bottles and pieces of concrete at officers, according to the police account.
Three Austin police officers suffered minor injuries, and three police vehicles were damaged. Police arrested Robert Padgett, 48, on riot and resisting-arrest charges; Armando Menagarcia, 29, on riot, resisting-arrest and assault-on-a-peace-officer charges; and Matthew Hemby, 44, on a riot charge. The charges remain allegations.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers helped clear the intersection around 10:15 p.m. A separate gathering outside the Texas Capitol on Monday remained peaceful, police said.
Democrats condemned ICE before federal disclosure
Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Casar wrote at about 2:28 p.m. that the ‘horror has come to our city.’ He accused ICE of operating a ‘deadly mass deportation machine’ and of ‘terrorizing our country,’ while also demanding an independent investigation and immediate release of body-camera footage.
Democratic Austin Mayor Kirk Watson posted at about 4:57 p.m. that he was angry and not surprised, citing the ‘rogue nature of ICE’ and ‘chaos’ he said ICE had fomented. DHS disclosed Garces Perez’s final removal order and unlawful-entry claim at about 11:33 p.m., hours after both Democratic officials issued their condemnations.
Illegal-alien status established, shooting disputed
DHS said Garces Perez was an illegal alien from Venezuela who entered unlawfully during the Biden administration and had a final order of removal. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said he entered through the Biden-era CBP One process, sought asylum and possessed a valid work permit. His attorney has not publicly released a copy of the permit, its category code or its expiration date.
A work permit does not establish lawful immigration status or cancel a deportation order. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services states that approval of Form I-765 does not grant immigration status, and federal policy recognizes that some aliens with final removal orders can receive limited employment authorization.
What DX saw inside targeted ICE enforcement
During a March ride-along with The Dallas Express, a veteran ICE officer said the agency’s underlying mission had not changed. “The law hasn’t changed at all. The only thing that’s changed are, you know, executive orders, priorities,” the officer said. “Our operations haven’t changed.”
The officer said the field environment had changed. “It used to be that when someone saw lights and a siren, they would stop and comply,” he said. The officer added that more people now try to escape and that ICE vehicles have been damaged in ramming incidents, requiring teams to prepare and train for those encounters. During the operation DX observed, agents monitored an MS-13 homicide suspect, coordinated a vehicle stop and completed the arrest within seconds.
The reason the ICE officer fired remains unresolved. Garces Perez said agents in an unmarked vehicle sideswiped his car and shot him while he remained inside. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis initially described a short foot pursuit.
DHS has not released the officer’s account or body-camera footage, and federal investigators continue reviewing the shooting.
The immigration dispute and the use-of-force investigation remain legitimate reporting questions. They do not erase the separate evidence that organized socialist and communist groups used established Texas and national networks to turn the shooting into a coordinated anti-ICE campaign within hours.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: ICE RIDE-ALONG@DallasExpress was invited by ICE for a rare, behind-the-scenes ride-along—where we witnessed agents track down and arrest a known MS-13 gang member in a targeted operation.
What we saw: precision, coordination—and a side of law enforcement most… pic.twitter.com/meYfHOX9iw
— The Dallas Express News (@DallasExpress) March 19, 2026
Provided by Dallas Express
