Protesters sentenced to decades in US prison over alleged antifa ties

Published 23 June 2026 · us

Civil liberties advocates have expressed alarm over the case involving a protest outside the Prairieland Detention Center. A former United States Marine reservist and seven

Civil liberties advocates have expressed alarm over the case involving a protest outside the Prairieland Detention Center. A former United States Marine reservist and seven others were sentenced to decades in prison over a shooting last year that wounded a police officer during a demonstration at a Texas immigration detention centre. On Tuesday, Benjamin Song, the Marine reservist, was sentenced to 100 years in prison, the maximum punishment, for opening fire during a July 4 demonstration outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas. Seven other defendants received prison terms ranging from 30 to 70 years. Prosecutors called the crime an act of “terrorism” and said the eight were linked to the leftist activist group antifa, a loosely knit anti-fascist movement that President Donald Trump designated a “domestic terrorist organisation”. The defence, meanwhile, denied any antifa ties. Family members expressed shock and anger over the stiff sentences. “I am livid,” said Lydia Koza, whose wife, Autumn Hill, was sentenced to 50 years in prison. “The government wants to take her entire life away because she attended a protest. Nobody died.” US District Judge Reed O’Connor, one of two judges overseeing the proceedings, said what happened was not a protest but “an assault on democracy”. All but one of the eight defendants sentenced on Tuesday were convicted on terrorism charges.

“The need to deter this type of conduct is high,” O’Connor said. The case drew attention beyond Texas, as critics warned it could have a wide-reaching impact on protests and free-speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. The Justice Department called it the first sentencing of “defendants affiliated with” antifa after Trump signed an executive order designating it as a “terrorist” organisation on September 22. Prosecutors link protesters to antifa Trump issued the order even though there is no domestic equivalent to the State Department’s list of “foreign terror organisations”. Antifa is not a single organisation, but rather an umbrella term for far-left, activist groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations. “The sentences handed down today make clear that antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that the group’s actions – including bringing firearms, first aid kits and wearing body armour – were signals of nefarious intent. According to the Justice Department, Song had yelled, “Get to the rifles”, and opened fire, striking a police officer who had just pulled up to the centre. Lawyers for the defendants have said there was no planned ambush and that protesters who brought firearms only did so for their own protection.