The Guardian reported Tuesday that the sentences were handed down by a federal judge in Texas after a three-week trial that concluded in March. The nine activists were convicted on a slew of charges, with eight of the nine found guilty of providing material support for terrorists. The charge, The Guardian said, does not require prosecutors to prove a connection to any terrorist ideology — only that a defendant provided support for one of a list of several crimes.
The protest took place on the night of July 4, 2025, outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, south of Fort Worth. The demonstrators arrived with a plan to set off fireworks as a noise demonstration in solidarity with people detained inside. During the protest, a few activists broke off from the main group and vandalized cars in the parking lot, a guard shack, slashed tires on a government van, and broke a security camera, The Guardian reported. When a police officer arrived and drew his weapon, Benjamin Song fired an AR-15 from the woods, hitting the officer in the shoulder. The officer survived.
Prosecutors argued that the attack on the officer was premeditated and part of a conspiracy, and they described the activists as members of a “North Texas antifa cell.” The Guardian noted that antifa is not an organization but a constellation of leftwing views. During the trial, prosecutors highlighted zines that members of the defendants’ local leftwing book club had read as evidence of conspiracy and ideology, a move that The Guardian reported drew widespread criticism from legal observers who said it amounted to criminalizing freedom of speech.
Prosecutors also emphasized the cache of guns that many of the defendants owned, some of which they brought to the detention center that night. It is undisputed, The Guardian said, that all firearms were bought legally and that only one person fired a weapon. The government also pointed to the defendants’ use of Signal, an encrypted messaging app, to communicate and auto-delete messages.
The Justice Department characterized the convictions as proof that antifa is a terrorist organization. The Guardian reported that since charges in this case were filed, the government has brought similar prosecutions against activists. Earlier in June, prosecutors filed criminal conspiracy charges against 15 activists in Minneapolis who allegedly interfered with ICE agents. A federal jury in Spokane, Washington, convicted three protesters of conspiracy for participating in a 2025 protest at an ICE facility. A similar case in Chicago collapsed after misconduct before grand jurors was revealed.