Antifa targets Christian street evangelist outside GOP convention; 2 arrested after assault
Chris Svochak says protesters became violent because he tells people 'they’re going to go to Hell'
DALLAS — A Christian street evangelist says he was assaulted by an Antifa-style faction while preaching outside the GOP's midterm convention.
Two people were arrested Thursday during a protest near the Republican National Midterm Convention at the American Airlines Center, according to a spokesperson for the Dallas Police Department.
Officers stationed near McKinney and Payne Streets around 11 a.m. CT responded after police say two protesters assaulted a counter-protester and blocked the road.
Hunter Holmes, 23, was arrested and charged with obstructing a highway or passageway and two counts of misdemeanor assault, according to police. Adrian Garcia, 19, was also arrested and charged with obstructing a highway or passageway, misdemeanor assault and interfering with public duties.
No medical treatment was required.
The two suspects were reportedly members of the Community Liberation Brigade, an offshoot of the now-disbanded Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, whose members were convicted in the 2025 attack on the Prairieland ICE detention center.
One of the protesters in the group was captured on video holding an Antifa flag and wearing a pin with the colors of the transgender flag with a rifle superimposed over it. That protester was seen in the video locking arms with other protesters, including one wearing a rainbow-colored shirt and another who was later seen in police custody.
Antifa members outside the RNC Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, in full military gear, got in formation and began attacking Christians while also lunging at me.
— Charles R Downs (@TheCharlesDowns) September 10, 2026
These are the same Antifa members who informed me in an earlier interview that they had no remorse that one of… pic.twitter.com/XOOdDDJSgB
Footage shared on social media prior to the reported assault shows a group of masked protesters in black bloc-style gear shoving Chris Svochak, a longtime street evangelist whose group Kingdom Reconcilers frequently preaches the Gospel at public events around the U.S.
Svochak told The Christian Post the incident began while he and four others were preaching at Pike Park, about a mile away from the GOP's convention. In one video, Svochak is heard preaching, “You love your sin. You love your demons more than you love God. You hate God. You hate Jesus Christ” to a group he said included Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and LGBT groups.
Svochak said before police arrived on scene, someone with the protesters “ripped up” his “sandwich board” with a wearable anti-abortion message written on it. After moving further away from the group — several of whom, Svochak said, were wearing “transgender patches” — so they could continue preaching, Svochak said they became even more aggressive.
“They specifically didn’t like what I was saying on the board,” he said.
The assault occurred, according to Svochak, when the Antifa protesters prevented him from walking by, locking arms in a circle around him. “Because I didn’t want to go into traffic and I had no other way to go, I tried to walk through two of their arms,” he said. “Their leader ordered them to shove me out of the way, essentially. He said, ‘Get them.’ And so all four of them, there’s about four different ones, two of ‘em I saw shoved me, and they threw me down.”
Svochak — one of three evangelists charged in January after prosecutors said the trio harassed attendees at an Islamic prayer gathering in a University of South Florida parking garage in November 2025 — says he was “surprised” at how quickly Dallas police responded.
“They had horses, they had bikes, they all came in, they swooped in, grabbed these two Antifa members, locked them up, got our statements,” he said.
It’s not clear why the Antifa group became physically violent, but Svochak says he believes it’s because the street preachers were steadfast in their mission.
“I think it got more and more aggressive as they realized that we weren’t going to leave,” he said. “I preach the Bible completely, and I do it unabashedly. I tell people they’re going to go to Hell if they’re homosexuals, if they have sex outside of marriage. I tell them all that, you know. So they don’t like it, and it gets there and it comes to that point.”
The clash outside American Airlines Center came just hours before President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance wrapped up the GOP's midterm convention on an emotional second night that included extended tributes to both the 2,977 victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and slain Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Antifa and its offshoot groups have frequently targeted Christians in public spaces, including at a Seattle event in May 2025 when Antifa protesters assaulted Christian worshippers by reportedly throwing water balloons filled with urine and performing lewd acts in front of a crowd that included children.
During a 2021 Portland prayer and worship event, dozens of black-clad Antifa militants carrying shields and melee weapons assaulted Christians, including children, in an attack that left a pastor injured.
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
