A federal jury in Texas returned a guilty verdict on all nine defendants charged in the July 2025 attack on the Prairieland ICE detention facility near Alvarado, Texas. The verdict was read on Friday for Benjamin Hanil Song, the accused Antifa organizer behind the attack, and eight associates who now await sentencing for their roles in the attack.
The jury delivered the verdict at the federal courthouse in downtown Fort Worth, finding Song, the alleged ringleader of the Antifa cell, guilty of attempted murder for his role in the shooting of an Alvarado police officer. The local police officer was responding to a request for assistance from detention officers under attack during the July 2025 armed ambush. As reported by Breitbart Texas, the officer, who survived his wounds, was critically injured after being shot in the neck shortly after exiting his marked patrol unit. In total, court documents allege 20 to 30 rounds were fired at law enforcement officers during the shooting.
According to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, the jury found eight defendants guilty on charges of riot and terrorism. Defendant Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada was found guilty of concealing/removing evidence. The jury continues to deliberate on one additional charge.
In addition to Antifa Ringleader Song, defendants found guilty on Friday include Savanna Batten, Cameron Arnold, Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, Ines Soto, Elizabeth Soto, Maricela Rueda, Bradford Morris, and Zachary Evetts.
The trial began on February 23 at the historic Eldon B. Mahon United States Courthouse in downtown Fort Worth, with Song and his associates facing charges that included attempted murder of a federal officer, discharging a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of a crime of violence, rioting, and providing material support to terrorists.
The 12-day trial included testimony from more than 45 witnesses and offered jurors more than 210 evidentiary exhibits in support of the criminal charges against the nine indicted defendants. The prosecution successfully established that the nine defendants were members of a North Texas Antifa Cell and were part of a larger militant enterprise of activists that calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
An expert testifying on behalf of the prosecution told the jury that Antifa’s coordinated efforts involve obstructing Federal law using riots, violence, including armed confrontations with law enforcement officers, increasingly targeting DHS/ICE agents and facilities in opposition to the agency’s deportation actions.
Evidence at trial revealed that most of the Antifa Cell involved in the Prairieland attack looked to Benjamin Hanil Song as their de facto leader. Song acquired the firearms used in the attack and distributed them to the co-defendants.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on the verdict, saying, “Antifa is a domestic terrorist organization that has been allowed to flourish in Democrat-led cities — not under President Trump. Today’s verdict on terrorism charges will not be the last as the Trump administration systematically dismantles Antifa and finally halts their violence on America’s streets.”
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
