Texas Anti-ICE Protesters Convicted of Terrorism Charges Sentenced to at Least 50 Years in Prison

A group of Texas protesters convicted of terrorism charges received unusually harsh sentences of at least 50 years in prison on Tuesday in a closely watched case that was widely seen as a test case of the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on dissent.

After a three-week jury trial, the nine activists were all found guilty of a slew of criminal charges in March, stemming from a Fourth of July protest at an immigrant detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, south of Fort Worth. The demonstrators arrived late at night with a plan to set off fireworks as part of a noise demonstration to show solidarity with those detained inside. A few of the protesters spontaneously broke off from the main group and vandalized cars in the parking lot, a guard shack, slashed the tires on a government van and broke a security camera. When a police officer arrived on the scene and drew his weapon, one of the activists fired an AR-15 from the woods, hitting the officer in the shoulder. The officer survived.

Benjamin Song, who fired the gun at the police officer, was sentenced to 100 years in prison. Song was convicted of attempted murder of an officer of the United States, as well as firearm and explosives charges. He was also convicted of riot, providing material support to terrorists. He faced anywhere from 20 years to life in prison.

Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Savanna Batten, Elizabeth Soto and Meagan Morris were sentenced to 50 years in prison. Maricela Rueda, another demonstrator, was sentenced to 70 years in prison. All six were convicted of riot, providing material support to terrorist, and explosive charges. Rueda was also convicted of corruptly concealing a document or record.

Evetts, Hill, Morris and Rueda were acquitted on attempted murder and firearms charges.

The sentences handed down on Tuesday were unusually long, said Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor who served as the US attorney for the eastern district of Michigan during the Obama administration.

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Even though many of the protesters did not know each other, or were loosely affiliated, prosecutors said the attack on the officer was premeditated and part of a conspiracy. They also said the activists were part of a “North Texas antifa cell”, which was seen as part of the administration’s effort to criminalize “antifa”, which is not an organization but rather a constellation of leftwing views.

During the trial, prosecutors displayed group messages from some of the defendants in which they planned the protest and discussed bringing firearms and dressing in all black to prevent themselves from being easily identified. But some of the defendants – like Batten, Elizabeth Soto and her husband, Ines Soto, were not involved in the planning, arrived separately at the protest, and left when guards at the facility asked them to do so. Morris stayed in a van many of the protesters had carpooled in with a cache of weapons and body armor while the protest was ongoing. She later fled from police when they arrived on scene. She was ultimately arrested after a traffic stop that night.

Prosecutors in the case charged and secured conviction of eight of the nine defendants for providing material support for terrorists. The ninth defendant, Daniel Sanchez-Estrada was not at the protest, but was convicted of corruptly concealing a document or record after prosecutors said he moved leftwing zines and other materials at the request of Rueda, his wife, after she was arrested. Sanchez-Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday.

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Prosecutors also focused heavily on the cache of guns that many of the defendants owned and some brought to the detention center on 4 July. It is undisputed that all of the firearms were bought legally and that there was only one person who fired a weapon on 4 July. Prosecutors also highlighted other evidence they claimed proved that the protesters planned violence, including their decision to communicate and auto-delete messages on Signal, an encrypted messaging platform widely used among activists, journalists and other citizens wary of government surveillance.

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