Texas activists get decades in prison in ICE protest case

Eight Texas activists were sentenced this week to prison terms ranging from 30 to 100 years in cases tied to a July 2025 protest outside the Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, The Verge reported. The sentences matter beyond Texas because Trump administration officials described the prosecutions as part of a broader campaign against people they label as connected to antifa.

The cases stemmed from a July 4 protest at the ICE-linked facility, where about a dozen protesters used fireworks and a bullhorn, according to The Verge’s account of charging documents. The documents said some people later slashed the tires of an ICE van, damaged a security camera and vandalized a guard shack.

After guards told the group to leave, some protesters complied and others remained, according to the charging documents cited by The Verge. When a police officer arrived and drew his gun, one person shouted about rifles and fired a rifle he had brought, the documents said. The officer, who was shot in the neck, testified that he believed his life was in danger and spent three to four hours at a hospital, according to The Verge.

Benjamin Song, identified by prosecutors as the shooter, was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 100 years in prison, The Verge reported. The Guardian reported that Song said he fired because he thought the officer was about to shoot a protester. Prosecutors also described Song as the leader of what they called an “antifa cell,” and his convictions included providing material support to terrorists, rioting and discharging a firearm during a violent crime, according to The Verge.

Other defendants received decades-long terms for lesser charges, The Verge reported. Savanna Batten and Elizabeth Soto, who The Verge said did not help plan the protest, arrived separately and left when guards ordered people away before the shooting, were each sentenced to 50 years.

Prosecutors accused Batten and Soto of being part of a group that made and distributed zines, according to The Verge. Daniel Sanchez-Estrada, who did not attend the protest, received a 30-year sentence after prosecutors said he moved a box of zines and described that act as corruptly concealing a document or record, The Verge reported.

The Verge reported that the Justice Department acknowledged the zines themselves were not illegal. The publication said the materials were produced for a book club named for anarchist organizer Emma Goldman, with readings on subjects including feminism and the elimination of artificial intelligence.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that the sentences showed the government would punish “Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities,” The Verge reported. Judge Reed O’Connor said the defendants’ conduct was an assault on democracy and argued that punishment was needed to deter similar actions, according to remarks cited by The Verge and MPR News. Song, in a statement to The Guardian, called the outcome “collective punishment.”

The Justice Department said Ines Soto, Elizabeth Soto’s husband, received a continuance and is due to be sentenced July 1, The Verge reported. Seven other people who pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists, including some who testified at trial, are also scheduled for sentencing that day, according to The Verge.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau remains committed to finding and dismantling antifa and its funding networks, according to The Verge. The publication also reported that federal prosecutors last week charged 15 people in Minnesota in a separate case involving alleged ties to antifa, with counts including conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, assault on a federal officer and destruction of federal property.

This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.