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Leader of Antifa Cell Members in North Texas Sentenced to 100 Years in Prison for Terrorist Attack on ICE FacilityTuesday, June 23, 2026
For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Seven Additional Defendants Also Sentenced Before One-Year Anniversary of Attack to a Combined 450 Years in Prison Today, the Justice Department announced that eight North Texas Antifa Cell operatives were sentenced for their roles in rioting, using weapons and explosives, providing material support to terrorists, obstruction, and the attempted murder of an Alvarado police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center on July 4, 2025. This is the first sentencing of defendants affiliated with Antifa following President Donald J. Trump’s executive order designating the group as a Domestic Terrorist Organization in September 2025. Benjamin Hanil Song, who was convicted of the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, was sentenced to 100 years in prison. Together, the Prairieland terrorists received a combined sentence of 450 years in prison:
“Today’s sentencings show the FBI remains committed to identifying, locating, and dismantling Antifa and its funding networks across the country,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Acts of violence against our law enforcement partners will not be tolerated, and we continue our work to protect communities across the country from domestic terrorism.” “These sentences justly punish the vicious, armed attack that these Antifa cell members planned and executed against law enforcement and detention center officers on the night of July 4th last year,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas. “Their terrorist acts, attempted murder, vandalism, and explosives launched at a detention facility were a far cry from a peaceful protest or First Amendment expression. Because of the prompt action of first responders that night and tenacious work of our law enforcement partners, in tandem with the prosecutors in my office, eight people have been rightly punished for these violent acts and their attempts to conceal them. We will continue in this mission to hold others accountable who perpetrate such violence and fund these ANTIFA groups in the Northern District of Texas.” “The sentences handed down today send an unmistakable message: Attacks on federal officers and facilities will not be tolerated. The men and women of ICE serve with integrity and courage, often in challenging and dangerous environments. The calculated violence carried out by these Antifa cell members at Prairieland was an assault on law enforcement and an attack on the rule of law itself,” said Acting ICE Director David J. Venturella. “Nearly one year after this cowardly act, justice has prevailed. ICE will continue to stand firm against those who threaten our officers, our facilities and our mission.” The sentences follow a 12-day trial that began on Feb. 23, where jurors heard testimony from 46 witnesses and considered over 210 exhibits supporting the charges against nine indicted defendants: Cameron Arnold, also known as Autumn Hill; Zachary Evetts; Benjamin Song; Savanna Batten; Bradford Morris, also known as Meagan Morris; Maricela Rueda; Elizabeth Soto; Ines Soto; and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada. All were convicted. Ines Soto was granted a continuance and will be sentenced on July 1. Seven others, Seth Sikes, Nathan Baumann, Joy Gibson, Susan Kent, Rebecca Morgan, Lynette Sharp, and John Thomas, pleaded guilty prior to trial to one count of providing material support to terrorists and they will be sentenced on July 1. Testimony and other evidence at trial established that the defendants were members of a North Texas Antifa Cell, part of a larger militant enterprise made up of networks of individuals and small groups primarily ascribing to an ideology that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and the system of law. An expert testifying in the government’s case told the jury that ANTIFA’s coordinated efforts involve obstructing Federal law through organized riots, violent assaults, and armed confrontations with law enforcement officers, increasingly targeting agents and facilities related to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement in opposition to the agency’s deportation actions. Evidence at trial revealed that most of the ANTIFA Cell involved in the Prairieland attack looked to Benjamin Song as a leader. Song acquired firearms that he distributed to co-defendants and recruited members at gun ranges and combat sessions he conducted, as well as from various ideologically aligned groups. For example, defendants Ines Soto, Elizabeth Soto, and Savanna Batten were part of a group that created and distributed insurrectionary materials called “zines,” according to trial evidence. Trial testimony reflected that, late at night on July 4, 2025, at least eleven of the defendants rioted and attacked the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was using to house illegal aliens awaiting deportation. The defendants dressed in “black bloc”—dark clothing with head and face coverings that concealed their identities—designed to hide each individual’s identity but also to aid and abet those members engaged in illegal acts by making members indistinguishable from one another to law enforcement. Evidence introduced at trial revealed that the defendants brought eleven firearms, body armor, and eleven military-grade first aid kits with tourniquets and other items to treat gunshot wounds to the scene of the attack. Many of these items were introduced by the government as exhibits. Additionally, DNA and fingerprint evidence linked many of the defendants to the items at the scene, and evidence obtained on phone locations supported that those who participated in the attack all turned off their phones or placed them in Faraday bags to prevent tracking on the night of the attack. After ANTIFA Cell members arrived at the detention facility, they began shooting off and throwing fireworks (explosives) at the facility and vandalizing vehicles and a guard shack on Prairieland property: Exploding fireworks (explosives) thrown at the Prairieland facility by Antifa Cell members, captured by surveillance cameras.Antifa Cell members’ vandalism at Prairieland, including graffiti on a guard building, punctured tires of a facility van, and broken facility surveillance camera. Witnesses testified that an Alvarado police officer responded to the scene after correctional officers called 911. When the officer began issuing commands to defendant Nathan Baumann, Benjamin Song can be heard on police bodycam video yelling, “get to the rifles!” and then he opened fire on the officers, striking the Alvarado police officer in the neck as the unarmed correctional officers ducked and ran for cover. Police arrested most of the Antifa Cell shortly after the attack, many near the scene. Benjamin Song escaped and remained at large with the help of others until his capture on July 15, 2025. Trial evidence demonstrated that collectively, this ANTIFA Cell acquired over 50 firearms in the Fort Worth/Dallas area prior to July 4. During trial, the government introduced numerous chats of the members, who used an encrypted messaging app to coordinate with each other that had auto-delete functions, permanently deleting some Antifa Cell members’ communications. They also used monikers in group chats to hide their identities, and some of the planning chats included only trusted participants. The chats introduced at trial revealed that members in this limited group conducted reconnaissance and discussed what to bring to the riot, including firearms, medical kits, and fireworks:
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