Eight people convicted over Texas ICE facility attack

FORT WORTH, Texas (CN) — Eight people federal prosecutors said were part of an “antifa cell” were found guilty Friday of rioting and terror-related charges in connection to what federal prosecutors characterized as a coordinated attack on a Texas immigration detention center.

Prosecutors claimed the eight conspired to ambush the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, which is used to house Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, on July 4, 2025. They claimed the defendants, along with others, shot fireworks at the facility and vandalized property, and that defendant Benjamin Song nonfatally shot an Alvarado police officer who was called to the scene.

The eight were convicted of rioting, providing material support for terrorism and use and carry of an explosive. All but Song were acquitted of charges related to the shooting of the police officer. A ninth defendant was convicted of concealing evidence after the fact.

The trial has been widely regarded as the first major test of the Trump administration’s efforts to prosecute “antifa” as an organized terrorist group.

Antifa, short for antifacist, is a term used to refer to a decentralized movement of activist groups opposing fascism, racism and far-right extremism. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, although no official organization exists.

Critics have described the trial as an example of the Trump administration attempting to criminalize dissent.

The verdict comes after a two week trial in which the prosecution presented a variety of witnesses, including several people arrested in connection with the incident who took plea deals. The defense rested without putting on any witnesses.

The defense characterized the event as a peaceful protest gone wrong. Defense attorneys said their clients intended to participate in a “noise demonstration” where they shot off fireworks to show support for the detainees in the facility and that there was never a plan for violence.

Prosecutors had described Song as the ringleader of the incident. Along with him, they brought charges related to the shooting against several other defendants, whom they described as being part of Song’s inner circle, under the theory it was “reasonably foreseeable” to those defendants he would do the shooting.

The defendants are set to be sentenced in June. They are also facing state-level charges, which they will be tried for later.

“Antifa is a domestic terrorist organization that has been allowed to flourish in Democrat-led cities — not under President Trump,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “Today’s verdict on terrorism charges will not be the last as the Trump administration systematically dismantles Antifa and finally halts their violence on America’s streets.”

The DFW Support Committee, which describes itself as a group of friends and loved ones supporting the defendants, said in a post on X it was “heartbroken” by the verdict.

“This is only the beginning. We will continue to fight the remaining charges until every defendant is home,” the group said, adding, “Everything about this trial from beginning to end has proven what we have said all along: this is a sham trial, built on political persecution and ideological attacks coming from the top.”