NEW: Verdict Reached In Landmark Antifa Terrorism Trial
A federal jury in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday delivered guilty verdicts against nine individuals linked to a North Texas Antifa cell, marking the first successful use of terrorism charges against members of the leftist extremist group in U.S. history.
Friday’s verdict stemmed from last year’s organized, ambush-style attack on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Alvarado, Texas.
The attack occurred when officers with the Alvarado Police Department responded to reports of a suspicious individual armed with a gun skulking outside the facility in the late hours of July 4. After approaching the suspect, officers were met with gunfire from “multiple people,” which struck one officer in the neck.
The injured officer was airlifted to a nearby hospital in Forth Worth and was later released. Police arrested multiple suspects in connection with the attack, who were believed to have disabled security cameras and attempted to lure officers away from the ICE facility before the shooting.
Charges were soon announced against nearly a dozen individuals accused of participating in a highly organized, ambush-style attack meant to kill ICE agents. “We’re here to tell you that late at night on July 4th, Friday night at approximately 10.37pm at the Prairieland Ice Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, 10 to 12 individuals dressed in black military-style clothing began shooting fireworks and engaging in acts of vandalism at the facility,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy Larson said at the time.
Prior to the shooting, the suspects allegedly launched fireworks and sprayed graffiti in an effort to lure ICE employees outside the building.
“The graffiti had such words as traitor, ice pig, and other profanity,” Larson said. “Then there was a 911 call from the facility. Two unarmed corrections officers went outside to speak with the vandals. One of the gunmen signaled using a flashlight to the vandals.”
The gunman — identified as longtime Antifa and John Brown Gun Club member Benjamin Song — who shot at officers was not with the vandals, but was instead positioned in a wooded area outside the facility. “Another assailant who was across the street, nowhere near the corrections officers, shot 20 to 30 rounds at these unarmed corrections officers,” Larson told reporters.
After the shooting, police apprehended seven suspects, some of whom were wearing body armor, while others were found with two-way radios. During their search, investigators also found a flag that read “resist fascism, fight oligarchy” and fliers that read “fight ICE terror with class war,” and “free all political prisoners.”
Additional searches over the following weekend yielded masks, goggles, tactical gloves, more body armor, a cache of nine additional weapons, spray paint, fireworks, and insurrectionist material, prosecutors said.
The defendants convicted at trial were Cameron Arnold, Zachary Evetts, Benjamin Song, Savanna Batten, Bradford Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada. Eight of them were found guilty of rioting, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, and using and carrying an explosive during a riot.
Song was additionally convicted on three counts of attempted murder of U.S. officers and employees and three counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Sanchez-Estrada was convicted of corruptly concealing documents and conspiracy to conceal documents (with Rueda), involving the transport of a box containing Antifa-related materials from Sanchez-Estrada’s residence to Denton, Texas, to obstruct the investigation. The jury acquitted most defendants on attempted murder charges except for Song.
Texas Antifa gunman Benjamin Song’s bail is set at $15 million — the highest ever in U.S. history for a captured Antifa violent suspect. He’s accused of being one of the ringleaders in the shooting ambush on ICE where an officer was shot in the neck. https://t.co/1PpxyvabZX pic.twitter.com/FZdyk4dWm8
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) July 21, 2025
“These guilty verdicts and convictions rightly reflect the vicious, armed attack that these Antifa cell members planned and executed against law enforcement and detention center officers on the night of July 4 last year. Their terrorist acts, attempted murder, vandalism, and explosives launched at a detention facility were a far cry from some peaceful protest or First Amendment expression,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said following the verdicts.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 2026. Song faces up to life imprisonment for the attempted murder conviction, while the other defendants could be facing maximum sentences of up to 30 years if terrorism enhancements are applied.
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