Federal judges in Texas have sentenced eight alleged antifa members to a combined 450 years in prison for their roles in a violent protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
Benjamin Song, a former Marine Corps reservist, received the harshest sentence of 100 years after being convicted of attempted murder for shooting a police officer outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
The remaining seven defendants received sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years on charges including rioting, providing support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry explosives, and conspiracy to corruptly conceal documents.
Among those sentenced, Maricela Rueda received 70 years, while Cameron Arnold, Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, and Bradford Morris each received 50-year terms, and Sanchez Estrada, Rueda’s husband, received 30 years.
An eighth defendant, Ines Soto, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1, and seven additional defendants who pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists each face up to 15 years in federal prison.
The defendants included a middle school teacher, a college student, a mechanical engineer, and a UPS worker, and their attorneys have announced they are appealing the convictions.
Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross testified that he arrived at the scene and saw a person dressed entirely in black, face covered, carrying a rifle, and was subsequently shot with a round that entered his shoulder and exited through his neck.
Song’s attorney, Phillip Hayes, argued during closing arguments that there was no call to arms before Lt. Gross arrived and “aggressively” pulled out his firearm, suggesting Song’s shots were “suppressive fire” and that a ricochet bullet struck the officer.
Prosecutor Frank Gatto urged the court to impose stiff penalties, stating that “People with that kind of extremist beliefs need extra time in prison,” framing the case as a benchmark prosecution of domestic extremism.
Hope Song, mother of Benjamin Song, disputed prosecutors’ claims at a news conference outside the Fort Worth federal courthouse, saying her son did not shoot the officer and did not intend to hurt anyone.
Suzanne Adely, interim president of the National Lawyers Guild, criticized the case’s broader implications, saying, “That opposition is something that the government wants to squash so a case like this helps the government kind of see how far they can go in criminalizing constitutionally protected protests.”
Prosecutors argued that Song yelled “get to the rifles” before opening fire, and that it was foreseeable to other protesters that a shooting could occur given the group’s advance planning and coordination.
Evidence presented at trial included phone location tracking, seized items from defendants’ homes, testimony about group chats and planning meetings, and accounts of efforts to help Song evade capture following the shooting.
The defendants deny any affiliation with antifa and maintain they attended the demonstration solely to protest on behalf of detained immigrants, rejecting the government’s characterization of the gathering as a coordinated terrorist attack.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year designating antifa a domestic terrorist organization, though critics noted that antifa is widely understood to be a decentralized ideology rather than a formal organization with leadership or membership structures.
The case has been praised as a significant victory by Trump administration officials pursuing an aggressive crackdown on left-wing protest activity, and follows federal charges against 15 people in Minnesota accused of impeding immigration enforcement operations.
