Key takeaways:
- Benjamin Song was sentenced to 100 years after prosecutors said he fired an AR-15 at a police officer during the July 2025 protest.
- Five defendants received 50-year sentences, Maricela Rueda received 70 years, and Daniel Sanchez Estrada received 30 years though he was not at the protest.
- Prosecutors secured material support for terrorism convictions against eight defendants by portraying the group as a “North Texas Antifa Cell.”
Federal judges in Fort Worth sentenced eight people to decades in prison Tuesday in a closely watched terrorism case stemming from a July 2025 demonstration outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center that ended with vandalism and a police officer being shot.
Benjamin Song, who fired at the officer, received 100 years in prison. Maricela Rueda was sentenced to 70 years. Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Savanna Batten, Elizabeth Soto and Meaghan Morris each received 50 years. Daniel Sanchez Estrada, who was not at the protest, was sentenced to 30 years for charges related to concealing documents during the investigation.
Judges in the Northern District of Texas ordered the sentences on each charge to run consecutively, substantially increasing the prison terms. Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor who served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, told The Guardian the sentences were unusually long.
“Most often, judges will sentence defendants for separate counts concurrently. Here, it appears that the judge stacked the sentences for each count consecutively,” McQuade wrote. “I would have expected lengthy sentences here, more in the ballpark at 15 to 25 years, but nothing like 50 to 100 years.”
The case arose from a Fourth of July protest at ICE’s Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas, south of Fort Worth. Demonstrators arrived late at night dressed in black for a “noise demonstration” involving fireworks to show support for people detained inside. Some protesters broke away and vandalized vehicles and surveillance equipment outside the facility, including cars, a guard shack, a government van’s tires and a security camera. When a police officer arrived, Song fired an AR-15 from the woods, hitting the officer in the neck or shoulder, according to the accounts. The officer survived.
Federal prosecutors initially charged the group with attempted murder of a federal officer and use of a firearm. They later brought material support for terrorism charges against eight defendants, portraying them as part of a “North Texas Antifa Cell.” The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security have cited the case as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against what officials call Antifa. After the defendants were convicted in March following a three-week jury trial, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi said the verdict would “not be the last as the Trump administration systematically dismantles Antifa and finally halts their violence on America’s streets.”
Prosecutors said the shooting was premeditated and part of a conspiracy, even though several defendants were loosely affiliated or did not know one another. At trial, they showed group messages in which some defendants discussed planning the protest, bringing firearms and dressing in black to avoid identification. They also focused on legally purchased firearms, zines read by a local leftwing book club, and use of Signal, an encrypted messaging app with auto-deleting messages.
Some defendants were not accused of violence. Batten and Elizabeth Soto were not alleged to have taken part in planning discussions, Talking Points Memo reported. Prosecutors cited Batten’s black clothing and Soto’s black clothing and operation of a small printing press that produced anarchist zines as evidence linking them to the conspiracy. Morris remained in a van that contained weapons and body armor during the protest and later fled police, The Guardian reported.
Sanchez Estrada, Rueda’s husband, was convicted after prosecutors said he moved leftwing zines and other materials at Rueda’s request after her arrest.
A DFW Support Committee representative condemned the sentences in a statement to Talking Points Memo. “Our loved ones did nothing wrong and they are being thrown away for the rest of their lives,” the representative wrote. “This sentencing is a punishment for solidarity itself. We will continue to fight to bring our loved ones home.”
The case has drawn attention as prosecutors bring similar conspiracy cases involving protesters in other cities, including Minneapolis and Spokane, Washington. The Guardian reported that a similar case in Chicago collapsed after misconduct before grand jurors was revealed.
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