Three More Antifa Terror Cell Members Indicted for Allegedly Aiding Convicted Ringleader Escape After Shooting

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A Johnson County grand jury indicted Melanie Lynn Estes, Andrew Tyler Smith and Steven Thomas Reyna in March but the indictment was only recently unsealed. They’re charged with one count each of engaging in organized criminal activity and hindering the prosecution of terrorism.

The indictments accuse the three of participating in a criminal conspiracy that helped Antifa member Benjamin Song avoid arrest after he allegedly shot Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross outside the Prairieland Detention Center on July 4, 2025.

Prosecutors allege Estes, Reyna and Smith worked alongside previously charged and now-convicted defendants Lynette Sharp and Susan Kent to transport, harbor or conceal Song and provide him with the means of avoiding arrest after the shooting.

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The new indictments stem from what federal prosecutors have described as an organized Antifa attack on the Prairieland ICE detention facility in Alvarado by a North Texas Antifa cell.

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In March, a federal jury in Fort Worth convicted Song and eight other members in the first federal Antifa terrorism trial in U.S. history. Jurors found the defendants guilty on charges including providing material support to terrorists, rioting, conspiracy involving explosives and related crimes. Song, whom prosecutors identified as the ringleader, was separately convicted of attempted murder for shooting Gross in the neck during the attack.

Seven other co-defendants pleaded guilty before trial. Five of them flipped and testified against their nine comrades.

Trial testimony showed members of the group arrived at the detention center dressed in black bloc clothing and carrying firearms, body armor, medical supplies and explosive devices. Prosecutors said the group used large fireworks to lure officers from the facility before the shooting began.

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