A federal jury convicted eight defendants on March 13, 2026, of terrorism-related charges, including material support to terrorists, tied to a July 4, 2025, shooting outside Texas’s Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas. One, Benjamin Song, was also guilty of attempted murder for wounding Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross in the neck/shoulder. Sentencing set for June; first case using such charges against alleged antifa affiliates, per FBI Director Kash Patel.
Incident and Prosecution
Prosecutors portrayed the “noise demonstration” supporting immigrants amid Trump’s deportations as a planned “direct action”: participants brought firearms, body armor, first-aid kits, and practiced “antifa tactics” with “operational security.” Song allegedly yelled “get to the rifles” and fired first, with group planning making violence foreseeable. Lt. Gross testified seeing a masked, all-black figure with a rifle before being hit.
Defense Arguments
Attorneys denied antifa membership or violent intent, calling it protected protest; guns were for self-defense, most left before shots. Song’s lawyer claimed Gross fired first, with Song’s shots as “suppressive fire” via ricochet, labeling charges overreach testing First Amendment limits. Critics like National Lawyers Guild’s Suzanne Adely warn it could chill protests by criminalizing dissent.
This high-profile case balances security and speech rights amid political tensions—outcomes may shape future protest prosecutions.
