A federal jury delivered a mixed verdict in the trial of nine protesters involved in a 2025 demonstration outside an ICE facility, convicting eight on terrorism-related charges but acquitting several on attempted murder counts. The convictions, including for providing material support to terrorists based on wearing "black bloc" clothing, mark a significant legal precedent as the first federal use of such charges against alleged antifa members. The case centered on a protest that turned violent, resulting in a police officer being shot and wounded by one defendant, Benjamin Song, who was convicted of attempted murder.
The trial is viewed as a potential bellwether for the administration's crackdown on left-wing groups, with the FBI having designated antifa as a major domestic terror threat. Prosecutors argued the protesters' gear and encrypted communications indicated malicious intent, while the defense maintained the demonstration was meant to be peaceful.
Main topics: Trial verdict and charges for ICE facility protesters, use of "material support for terrorism" charges, the violent events of the protest, and the case's context within broader political crackdowns.
A federal jury handed prosecutors a mixed victory in the trial of nine protesters for their roles during or after a chaotic demonstration outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility last July, convicting eight defendants of terrorism charges but sparing some of them on attempted murder counts.
The widely watched trial could serve as a bellwether as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to crack down on left-wing groups — and the convictions could encourage prosecutors to bring more such charges. A top FBI official said in December that the agency is now treating “antifa” as a major domestic terror threat.
The court case centered on a nighttime July 4, 2025, protest outside ICE’s Prairieland Detention Facility that started with demonstrators shooting fireworks and spray-painting cars in the parking lot.
Signal messages obtained by the government showed that the demonstrators believed that less confrontational protests against ICE — such as one that had occurred earlier in the day at the same facility — were ineffective. Some of the protesters had brought guns, which is legal in Texas. A police officer responding to the scene was shot in the neck by one of the protesters, Benjamin Song, who had brought an AR-15 with a trigger modified for a higher rate of fire.
The defendants said the protest was a peaceful demonstration meant to show solidarity, pointing to the megaphone that one member of the group brought to shout slogans to detainees. Prosecutors pointed to the guns, ballistic vests, and trauma first-aid kits they brought as evidence of malicious intent.
Song was convicted of one count of attempted murder for shooting the officer, but acquitted on two other counts of attempting to shoot at two correctional officers. Song was also found guilty of discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Four other people accused of attempted murder counts were acquitted on those charges. Song faces up to life in prison.
In a significant victory for the government, jurors convicted eight defendants on material support for terrorism charges for wearing black clothes to the late-night demonstration. That use of “black bloc” clothing was an antifa tactic that assisted in the shooting of the officer, prosecutors said during their closing arguments.
The defendants convicted of providing material support to terrorists were Song, Autumn Hill, Zachary Evetts, Savanna Batten, Megan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto. They face up to 15 years in prison on that count.
The same defendants were also convicted of riot and two explosives charges related to the fireworks. Hill, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda were acquitted on attempted murder charges that would have carried sentences up to life imprisonment.
Rueda and her husband, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, were convicted of conspiracy to conceal documents. That charge centered on Sanchez’s movement of boxes containing radical pamphlets after her arrest. Sanchez was also convicted of corruptly concealing a document.
The prosecution of the Prairieland defendants represented the federal government’s first use of the material support charge against alleged antifa members accused of domestic terrorism.
The verdict came after 10 days of testimony inside a Fort Worth courtroom packed with family members of the defendants, law enforcement officials, and journalists.
Prosecutors called the wounded police officer and detention center guards to describe what it was like on the receiving end of a barrage of bullets, as well as four cooperating defendants who pleaded guilty before trial.
Another significant witness was a researcher at a right-wing think tank who said the tactics used by the demonstrators that night, including “black bloc” clothing and the encrypted messaging app Signal — which the witness said he also used — were typical of antifa.
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