8 people convicted of terrorism charges in Texas immigration center shooting face sentencing
Jun 23, 2026, 8:56 AM | Updated: 9:24 am
FILE - Officers with the Department of Homeland Security walk on the sidewalk outside the Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse during a trial for people connected to a 2025 shooting outside an ICE detention facility, in Fort Worth, Texas, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
Credit: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Eight people accused of having links to antifa are being sentenced Tuesday for their convictions on terrorism charges related to the shooting of a police officer outside a Texas immigration detention center last July 4.
A federal jury found them guilty in March of providing material support to terrorists and other charges following a nearly three-week trial. Most face a federal prison sentence from ten to 60 years.
Benjamin Song, the demonstrator who prosecutors say opened fire and wounded a local police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado was convicted of attempted murder and faces a minimum penalty of 20 years and up to life in prison.
Another defendant, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, who was convicted of corruptly concealing a document and conspiracy to conceal documents, could get up to 40 years.
Others who pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists rather than take their case to trial face up to 15 years in federal prison when they are sentenced Tuesday in Fort Worth.
Prosecutors say the eight are members of antifa, a decentralized anti-fascist organization that has become a target of the Trump administration. They have denied any affiliation and maintain they attended the demonstration to show support for immigrants inside the detention center.
FBI Director Kash Patel has said the case against the Prairieland demonstrators is the first accusing people the Trump administration believes are antifa of terror-related charges.
President Donald Trump last fall signed an executive order designating antifa a domestic terrorist organization, even though there is no domestic equivalent to the State Department’s list of foreign terror organizations.
Critics warn the case could have wide-reaching impact on protests given that organizations operating within the U.S. are supposed to be protected by First Amendment free-speech rights.
Short for “anti-fascists,” antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.
Last week, federal prosecutors charged 15 people with impeding the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota. They claimed the demonstrators were members of antifa who conspired against the federal government to block arrests and deportations by setting up blockades around government buildings and throwing chunks of ice at federal vehicles, among other actions.
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Marcelo reported from New York.
