Alleged antifa leader gets 100 years in prison for attack on Texas ICE facility

Eight members of an alleged antifa cell who were found guilty of terrorism-related charges for a 2025 attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas have been sentenced – one of them to a century in prison.

A federal judge sentenced Benjamin Song, a former Marine reservist convicted of attempted murder for shooting a police officer outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, to 100 years in prison. The other seven defendants received a combined sentence of 450 years for charges such as rioting, providing support to terrorists and conspiracy to use and carry explosives. They are:

• Autumn Hill (formerly Cameron Arnold) – 50 years.
• Zachary Evetts – 50 years.
• Savanna Batten – 50 years.
• Meagan Morris (formerly Bradford Morris) – 50 years.
• Maricela Rueda – 70 years.
• Elizabeth Soto – 50 years.
• Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada – 30 years.

Ines Soto, another defendant in the case, was granted a continuance and is set for sentencing on July 1.

Attorneys for the defendants, who The Washington Post reports included a middle school teacher, a college student, a mechanical engineer and a UPS worker, say they’ll appeal the convictions.

Seven other defendants have pleaded guilty to a single count each of providing material support to terrorists, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in federal prison. Their sentencing is also set for July 1.

What happened

The protest broke out on July 4, 2025. Defense attorneys say that messages between the defendants show a plan for a peaceful demonstration.

Prosecutors say the group arrived at the detention center late that night and started vandalizing the building and vehicles, including spray-painting anti-police graffiti, slashing tires, destroying a security camera and setting off fireworks at the building, according to The Post.

The prosecutors said when local police responded, Song started shooting his modified AR-15-style rifle at them, hitting Lt. Thomas Gross. The officer testified that he was shot in the shoulder and the bullet passed through his neck, narrowly missing his spine. No other protesters fired a weapon, although some were armed.

Prosecutors called it a premeditated terror attack inspired by antifa ideology.

Antifa – short for “anti-fascist” – is a far-left movement that not only opposes fascism, but other right-wing ideologies. In court filings, prosecutors defined antifa as “a militant enterprise made up of networks of individuals and small groups, primarily ascribing to a revolutionary anarchist or autonomous Marxist ideology, which explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States government, law enforcement authorities and the system of law.”

President Donald Trump issued an executive order designating antifa a domestic terrorist organization in Sept. 2025.

The defense argued that antifa is an ideology, not an organized group with any organized leadership. They said all of the defendants who were armed had the legal right to be, and no other evidence collected pointed to anything illegal.

Defense attorneys argue that the case was politically motivated and say prosecutors did not have enough evidence to prove their cases.

The New York Times noted that the sentences are significantly longer than those handed down to any of the more than 1,500 rioters convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump lost the 2020 election. The most severe sentence was a 22-year term handed down to Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right Proud Boys group, according to The Times.

Trump granted clemency to nearly all of the 1,500 rioters upon taking back the Oval Office in Jan. 2025.

Reactions to the sentences

U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’ Connor, who sentenced Arnold, Evetts, Batten and Sanchez-Estrada, said, “The defendants’ violence and terrorism is an assault on Democracy.”

He added, “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.”

And while imposing the sentences for Song, Morris, Rueda and Soto, U.S. District Court Judge Mark T. Pittman said, “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.”

In a statement read by his mother after the sentencing, Song said while he opposes fascism, he is not a member of an antifa group, nor is antifa even a group.

“He has accepted full responsibility,” Hope Song said. “But he will never accept responsibility for a lie … which they are using to prosecute people all across the country for domestic terrorism.”

Patrick McLain, Evetts’ lawyer, said, “MAGA made a statement today by these sentences.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche welcomed the sentences.

“The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” Blanche said. “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.”

DBI director Kash Patel said his agency is committed to “dismantling Antifa and its funding networks across the country.”

He added, “Acts of violence against our law enforcement partners will not be tolerated.”

Round out your reading

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• The novel legal strategy that Taylor Swift and Matthew McConaughey are using to fight AI.
• Illinois balances budget with new $200 million social media tax that tracks in-state users.
• When Trump serves up ‘Just the News,’ it comes with a side of bias.

Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief

Ella Greene

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