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On Tuesday, eight Texas anti-ICE protesters convicted on trumped-up terrorism charges earlier this year received decades-long sentences ranging from 30 to 100 years.
Five of the defendants received 50-year sentences after being convicted of rioting and “providing material support to terrorists.” One received a 30-year sentence, and another a 70-year sentence. And Benjamin Song, convicted of attempted murder of an officer in addition to rioting and “providing material support to terrorists,” was sentenced to 100 years in prison.
The eight protesters were convicted based on a July 4, 2025 protest at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, where the activists used fireworks and noise-making to protest the immigrant jail and Trump’s anti-immigrant detentions. Police arrived at the scene, and later claimed that one of the protesters opened fire on an officer, who also shot at protesters. The next day, the FBI began raiding homes, and arresting and detaining protesters.
One of the defendants, sentenced to 30 years in prison, was not even present at the July 4 protest.
These sentences are far longer than any of the prison sentences given to January 6 rioters, the longest of which was 22 years for a member of the Proud Boys, a far right, neo-fascist militant group that embraces white nationalism, Islamophobia, and misogyny. The 22-year sentence was commuted to time served after President Donald Trump pardoned the Proud Boys member, along with some 1,500 other January 6 rioters.
But the Prairieland defendants, on the other hand, have been smeared by prosecutors as part of an “antifa cell” – after Trump labeled “antifa” a terrorist organization last year, despite the fact that antifa is not an actual organization. And many of the Prairieland protesters did not know each other before the protest or have activist experience, but were moved to protest against Trump’s draconian policies.
Days after Trump issued an executive order calling “antifa” a terrorist organization, he issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), which mandates federal agencies to investigate and disrupt groups linked to “left-wing violence.” This has allowed the Trump administration to crack down on left-wing groups that it associates with “antifa.”
Family members of the Prairieland defendants have said that they plan to appeal. Family members and supporters said that the sentencing marks a dangerous precedent, and that the case is built on fabrications and smears against the protesters.
The Prairieland case has been followed by other cases trumped-up charges against left-wing activists – including federal charges brought against eight Palestine solidarity activists in Michigan for pressuring the University of Michigan to divest from Israel, as well as against 15 protesters in Minnesota for their activism during ICE’s “Operation Metro Surge” in January.
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