A federal judge has declared a mistrial in the case of an alleged Antifa ambush on a Texas U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center over a defense lawyer's shirt.

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman for the Northern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, declared the mistrial Tuesday, before a jury was seated in a trial of nine alleged Antifa members. They were charged in connection with the ambush shooting of a police officer at an ICE detention center, FOX 4 reported.

Pittman declared the mistrial over a T-shirt worn by defense attorney MarQuetta Clayton under a blazer, which depicted civil rights icons, according to KERA News. Clayton, who is representing Maricela Rueda, apparently wore the shirt during jury selection. The shirt included images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Shirley Chisholm, and other people and scenes from the civil rights movement. Clayton appeared to wear it in honor of Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died on Tuesday.

When Clayton began questioning jurors as part of the jury selection process, she noted the constitutional right to protest and mentioned Jackson’s death.

“I don’t know why in the world you would think that’s appropriate,” Pittman told Clayton.

"This has to be a first in the history of American jurisprudence, I would think," the judge said. "I’m left with no other choice."

The mistrial came after a portion of the pool of 75 prospective jurors expressed anti-ICE and anti-President Trump sentiments when questioned by the judge and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith. Pittman said that a pool of 130 jurors would be brought in the following Tuesday to start the process again, Fox News reported.

Pittman told Clayton that she would have to return for a hearing at some point to determine whether she would be sanctioned for her shirt.

The judge said that while he admired King and Chisholm, he likened Clayton’s shirt to a prosecutor wearing an ICE pin, or “a shirt with Donald Trump riding an eagle” with an ICE flag.

“Politics — as prevalent as they are, as divided as they are — don’t have any business here,” Pittman said.

The nine alleged Antifa members are accused of participating in an ambush at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center on July 4, 2025. Federal prosecutors say the defendants ignited fireworks and damaged buildings and vehicles before firing on federal officers. An Alvarado police officer responding to a 911 call was shot in the neck and survived.

Prosecutors said the attack was orchestrated by members of what they describe as a North Texas Antifa cell in the first federal prosecution of Antifa as a domestic terrorist group. The defendants have denied wrongdoing.