Federal prosecutors have increasingly used terrorism-related charges in politically charged protest cases. In Fort Worth this week, that approach culminated in lengthy prison sentences for eight people convicted in the shooting outside the Prairieland ICE detention center in North Texas.
Eight defendants sentenced after Fort Worth convictions
Eight defendants convicted in the Prairieland detention center case were sentenced on June 23, 2026, in federal court in Fort Worth, with prison terms ranging from 30 years to 100 years, according to the Associated Press. Benjamin Song, identified by prosecutors as the gunman, received the maximum 100-year sentence after being convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of an Alvarado police officer.
The U.S. Department of Justice said a federal jury had previously convicted nine North Texas antifa cell operatives over the July 4, 2025 attack at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center. The department said the convictions included rioting, using weapons and explosives, providing material support to terrorists, obstruction, and, in Song’s case, attempted murder of an Alvarado police officer.
AP reported that seven other defendants sentenced in Fort Worth received terms ranging from 30 to 70 years. The article also reported that all but one of the eight sentenced on June 23 were convicted on terrorism charges. Attorneys for some defendants said they plan to appeal, and Song’s lawyer told AP he rejected the government’s characterization of the group as extremists.
The case focused on events outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, in Johnson County, southwest of Dallas and near Fort Worth. According to AP’s trial coverage, Lt. Thomas Gross of the Alvarado Police Department testified that he responded around 11 p.m. on July 4, 2025, after reports of activity at the facility and was shot in the neck area after gunfire erupted.
Court filings described a group dressed in black, some carrying firearms and wearing body armor, who prosecutors said shot fireworks toward the facility and vandalized property before officers arrived. AP reported that prosecutors said one person yelled, “get to the rifles” before Song opened fire, injuring Gross and drawing return fire from law enforcement at the scene.
What remains unresolved publicly is a full accounting of every sentence and every defendant’s role in a single official court summary released at sentencing. The Justice Department detailed the broader conviction counts, but AP’s sentencing report centered on the eight people sentenced that day, while earlier court reporting showed other related cases, including guilty pleas by five additional defendants, were handled separately.
Federal prosecutors argued throughout trial that the gathering was not a spontaneous demonstration but a planned attack on a federal detention facility and responding officers. AP reported that prosecutors pointed to firearms, first aid kits and body armor as evidence of planning, while the Justice Department said the case involved providing material support to terrorists, a charge officials described as part of a broader federal response.
The prosecution also unfolded after President Donald Trump signed an order designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, according to AP’s earlier reporting on the case. AP noted that FBI Director Kash Patel had described the Texas prosecution as the first time a material-support-to-terrorism charge targeted people accused of being antifa members.
For Texas residents, the practical outcome is that the Prairieland case is now moving from conviction to appeals and any remaining related proceedings. Supporters of the defendants gathered outside the federal courthouse in Fort Worth on June 23, and defense lawyers have said some of the convicted defendants will challenge the verdicts and sentences, while the Justice Department has presented the case as a warning that attacks on law enforcement and federal facilities will draw severe penalties.