8 convicted in Texas immigration center shooting and protest are sentenced to decades in prison
Prosecutors described the crime as an act of terrorism and said the eight men were linked to the left-wing militant group Antifa. Lawyers for the defendants denied any antifafa ties, and family members expressed shock and anger at the harsh sentences.
Navy reserve officer Benjamin Song, who was found guilty of opening fire during a demonstration outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas on July 4, was sentenced to 100 years in prison, the maximum penalty. The other seven people convicted in Fort Worth courtrooms received sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years in prison.
“I’m so angry,” said Lydia Koza, whose wife, Autumn Hill, was sentenced to 50 years in prison. “The government wants to take away his entire life because he participated in a protest. No one died.”
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, one of two judges overseeing the trial, said what happened was not a protest but an “assault on democracy.” All but one of the eight defendants sentenced on Tuesday were convicted on terrorism charges.
“The need to deter this type of behavior is high,” O’Connor said.
The case has also attracted attention beyond Texas as critics warn it could have a far-reaching impact on protests and First Amendment free speech rights. The Justice Department called this the first sentencing of defendants affiliated with Antifa after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last fall designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. Prosecutors link protesters to Antifa
Trump issued the order even though there is no domestic equivalent of the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. Antifa is not a single organization, but rather an umbrella term for far-left militant groups that oppose or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.
“The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. he said.
Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that the group’s actions, including wearing firearms, first-aid kits and bulletproof vests, were signs of malevolence.
Lawyers for the defendants said there was no planned ambush and that protesters who brought firearms did so only for their own safety. They argued that the meeting was planned as a late-night fireworks demonstration to show support for immigrants being held in Prairieland before the gunfire broke out.
Prosecutors said Song shouted “get to the rifles” and opened fire, hitting a police officer who had just arrived at the headquarters.
Some defendants say they were not part of the planning
Song’s lawyer, Phillip Hayes, rejected claims that the protesters were extremists and said his client would appeal the 100-year prison sentence.
“These are a group of kids and young adults who have really big hearts and really want their voices to be heard,” Hayes said. “It was never intended to hurt anyone. It was never intended for any shooting to occur.”
Prosecutor Frank Gatto urged the judge to impose harsh sentences.
“People with such extremist beliefs need extra time in prison,” Gatto said. “They believe violence is justified.”
The defendants and their families requested leniency.
Autumn Hill said the gathering “looked more like a party to me than anything else” and that she and others who attended “did not expect or want any violence or property damage.”
Hill’s attorney, Cody Cofer, told the judge there was no evidence he had a gun and that he believed in violence to bring about change. He said he was so conscientious after the fireworks went off that he made sure to pick up any trash left behind before leaving.
Defendant Savanna Batten’s attorney, Chris Tolbert, said his client did not bring a firearm, spray paint or fireworks to the center and was not involved in the planning of the demonstration.
Hill and Batten were each sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Another defendant, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was not at Prairieland the night of the attack or involved in the planning, said his attorney, Christopher Weinbel. Sanchez Estrada, who was married to another defendant, was convicted only of hiding documents.
Weinbel said his client was carrying a box of his own belongings after the shooting, including artwork, poetry, magazines and zines. Nothing in the box was illegal, Weinbel said.
Sanchez Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Other defendants had previously pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists rather than going to trial.
Last week, federal prosecutors charged 15 people with obstructing the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants in Minnesota. They claimed the demonstrators were antifa members conspiring against the federal government to thwart arrests and deportations by creating blockades around government buildings and throwing ice chips at federal vehicles, among other actions.
