Eight “North Texas Antifa Cell” members were sentenced Tuesday to a combined 450 years in prison for weapons and explosives offenses and the attemped murder of a police officer in a July 4th riot at a ICE facility in Alvarado. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo
Eight people who the Justice Department alleges were part of antifa — designated as a domestic terror group — were sentenced to a combined 450 years in prison for their roles in an Independence Day 2025 riot outside Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, in which a local police officer was shot.
Benjamin Hanil Song was sentenced to 100 years for the attempted murder of the law enforcement officer in the incident at the ICE facility in Alvarado, along with discharging a firearm during the course of a violent crime, rioting, providing material support to terrorists and charges related to the use and possession of explosives, the Justice Department said Tuesday in a news release.
The former U.S. Marine Corps reservist was convicted in a trial in March along with eight other defendants who were found guilty of a range of offenses, but Song was the only one convicted of the attempted murder and firearms charges.
The federal court judges at Tuesday’s hearing in Fort Worth handed six other defendants decades-long prison terms for a range of offenses related to the incident.
Maricela Rueda was sentenced to 70 years, Cameron Arnold, Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Bradford Morris and Elizabeth Soto all received 50 years, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
A ninth defendant, Ines Soto, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche hailed the sentences as a deterrent against violent extremism.
“The sentences handed down today make clear that antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice. Their violent extremism has no place in our country, and the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively investigate, disrupt, and prosecute those who threaten law enforcement officers or undermine the rule of law,” he said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the sentencing demonstrated the agency’s resolve to hunt down and take Antifa and its funding networks across the country apart.
“Acts of violence against our law enforcement partners will not be tolerated, and we continue our work to protect communities across the country from domestic terrorism,” said Patel.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould said the sentences were appropriate punishment for what he said was a premeditated “vicious armed attack by Antifa cell members” directed at law enforcement and detention center officers.
“Their terrorist acts, attempted murder, vandalism, and explosives launched at a detention facility were a far cry from a peaceful protest,” he said.
Sentencing Song, Morris, Rueda and Elizabeth Soto, U.S. District Court Judge Mark T. Pittman for the Northern District of Texas said it was a miracle there were no fatalities.
“It’s by the grace of God that Song is not dead. He managed to get 11 shots in seconds; then the officer shooting blindly happened to hit the magazine well of Song’s rifle. Mr. Song’s lucky he isn’t dead. We had a guardian angel that ensured that Mr. Song isn’t dead, and we don’t have several deceased people at Prairieland,” said Pittman.
Sentencing Arnold, Evetts, Batten, and Sanchez-Estrada, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’ Connor called their actions “an assault on Democracy.”
“The defendants’ planning, staging, and execution of the attack led to the attempted murder of an officer who ironically is not even involved in enforcing immigration law,” he said.
Witnesses at the trial, including the Alvarado police officer who was shot in the neck, and multiple detention officers at the scene, described how they took cover from rapid fire during the incident
Susan Kent, one of four co-defendants who turned state’s evidence, testified that during a “gear check,” the night before Song suggested breaking out detainees from Prairieland and instructed the group to wear “black bloc” clothing with head and face coverings to conceal their identities and bring rifles, because he wasn’t going to be captured.
Evidence submitted in court showed that the defendants were carrying 11 firearms, body armor and 11 military-grade first aid kits with tourniquets and other items to treat gunshot wounds on the night of the incident.
Central to the prosecution’s case was that the defendants were part of a cell of antifa — an abbreviation for anti-fascist — which it described as a domestic terror organization calling for the overthrow of the government, of which Song was regarded as the leader.
He acquired firearms and recruited members at gun ranges and combat training sessions he ran. He also recruited members from other groups with similar ideological beliefs.
Defendants Ines Soto, Elizabeth Soto and Batten were alleged to be part of a group that generated and shared “zines,” material calling for direct action and rebellion.
Song said in a statement Tuesday that he opened fire because he believed the police officer was about to shoot a protester.
The defendants deny any links with antifa and have said they were protesting against the detention of migrants at Prairieland.
The convictions were the first secured since U.S. President Donald Trump used an Executive Order to designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization in September.
There are questions around whether antifa exists in a form that could be deemed as an organization in the way overseas groups like Hamas and ISIS are designated by the Secretary of State as Foreign Terrorist Organizations — although the State Department did designate four groups in Europe it said were linked to antifa as FTOs in November.
Annual hearings held by the House Homeland Security Committee in December to assess the top threats to the United States heard that the loose-knit, decentralized network was the number one domestic terrorism risk and the FBI’s “primary concern right now.”
Deputizing for Patel, FBI Operations Director Michael Glasheen was unable to tell the committee if Antifa had a headquarters or how many members it had.
This week in Washington
President Donald Trump presents a Medal of Honor to Tom Ripley on behalf of his father, John W. Ripley, during a Medal of Honor award ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Thursday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
