On Tuesday, June 23rd, eight anti-ICE activists in Central Texas were sentenced on terrorism charges by the Trump Justice Department. They collectively face 450 years behind bars, or decades for each of them.
This all stems from an incident on the evening of July 4th, 2025, where a number of people participated in a “noise demonstration”* outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado Texas, south of Fort Worth.
Fireworks were set off, ICE vehicles and property were spray painted, tires were slashed and a security camera was broken. A tense and chaotic situation led to a shootout involving a protestor and Alvarado police, wounding a police lieutenant. You can learn more about the specifics and the inconsistencies in the charges against the defendants here.
The main defendant, Benjamin “Champaign” Song, a Marine Corps reservist, has been sentenced to 100 years for allegedly firing a gun at a police officer. The seven other defendants were sentenced to between 30 and 70 years for a range of supposed offenses. One, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was sentenced for 30 years for obstructing an investigation by simply moving a box of antifascist zines.
Supporters of the defendants say that the charges will be appealed.
That they’re being punished at all is bad enough, but it’s even worse when you compare their sentences to others convicted of politically related crimes. All of the sentences of the Prairieland defendants are longer than those for any of the individuals convicted in participating in the January 6th riot in Washington D.C.! And that even before they received blanket pardons by the Trump administration.
Many of the defendants are parents, teachers, artists, poets, and valued members of their communities. Over the past year, there have been situations where a child of one of the defendants was abducted by federal agents to be interrogated and even had a bag put over their head. Two of the defendants, Autumn Hill and Meagan Morris, are trans women yet have been held in men’s prisons, which adds an extra level of cruelty given the well documented disproportionate rates of sexual violence that trans people face in prison.
The targeting of the Prairieland protestors needs to be understood within the larger political context we see in the United States right now.
The Trump administration has made no secret that it wants to use the left as one of its main boogeymen on which to blame society’s problems. They want to use the specter of “Antifa” in particular as a ubiquitous conspiracy and all-encompassing black box for his supporters to project their fears. More than attacking “Antifa” for propagandistic purposes, the Trump Administration has used it as an excuse to nakedly criminalize dissent and First Amendment protected activities. On September 22nd of last year, the Trump administration defined “Antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization. On September 25th, the Trump administration released National Security Policy Memo 7 (NSPM-7) which tasked federal agencies to “investigate, prosecute and disrupt” groups engaging in “anti-capitalism”, “anti-fascism” and “anti-Americanism.” In addition, ugly targeting and scapegoating of trans people is integrally mixed up in this backlash of the left.
The Prairieland case has enormous magnitude because it is the first time that the state has used these so-called “Antifa Terrorism” charges against defendants. These charges have set a dangerous legal precedent for targeting others, potentially including the anti-ICE protestors in Minnesota who bravely stood up to the federal occupation during Operation Metro Surge.
These attacks on the Prairieland activists are intended to have a chilling effect on anyone expressing dissent. To counter their attempt, we must stand with these activists. We are in full solidarity with those who stood up at the Prairieland detention center. They are absolutely correct to stand up against the barbaric treatment of people in detention centers like Prairieland, as well as the kidnapping of our neighbors in our communities. We must let them know that they are not alone, and that we stand with them.
While we might have different perspectives with the rebels who stood up at Prairieland of where our power lies to fight back, we share the same sense of urgency to fight against a system that locks so many of us behind bars and behind borders.
You can learn more about the Prairieland political prisoners and how to support them here.
*A noise demonstration is a protest that uses loud noise, like banging of pots and pans, yelling, or setting off fireworks, not only to demonstrate opposition to the authorities, but also so that those imprisoned can hear the protest and feel solidarity from those on the outside.
