Texas anti-ICE protesters sentenced to decades in prison

Eight defendants tied to a July 4, 2025 protest outside a Texas immigration detention center were sentenced Tuesday to federal prison terms ranging from 30 years to 100 years, in a case that prosecutors cast as terrorism-related and the defense says punished political protest.

The sentencing took place in federal court in Fort Worth and stemmed from the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas. Prosecutors said the defendants were tied to antifa and argued that the case reflected organized extremist violence. The defendants denied that affiliation and said they were there to support detained immigrants.

Benjamin Song, described in reporting as a former U.S. Marine Corps reservist, received the longest sentence, 100 years. AP reported that the other seven defendants received terms between 30 and 70 years.

The sentencing

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor said the incident was not a protest and called it an assault on democracy, according to AP.

Prosecutor Frank Gatto told the court that people with extremist beliefs need extra time in prison and that violence was justified by them, AP reported.

Defense attorney Phillip Hayes said Song did not intend for anyone to be hurt and said he will appeal the 100-year sentence. The defense also disputed the government's account of what happened during the shooting.

AP reported that prosecutors said Song yelled get to the rifles and fired, striking a police officer. The defense said the shots were suppressive fire and argued that the wound may have come from a ricochet.

How the case developed

The case grew out of a July 4, 2025 protest outside the Prairieland Detention Center, an ICE facility in Texas. Earlier reporting on the same case showed that a Texas jury convicted most of the defendants on terrorism-related charges in March 2026. Song was also convicted of attempted murder in that earlier phase of the case.

That chronology helps explain why Tuesday's sentencing was so severe. The June 23 ruling followed months of litigation over the government's theory that the protest crossed into coordinated violence, and over the defense argument that prosecutors were criminalizing a political demonstration.

What comes next

The long sentences are likely to shape appeals. Hayes has already said he will challenge Song's sentence, and further appellate review may test both the terrorism-related convictions and the punishment lengths.

The case is also likely to remain part of a broader public debate over immigration-enforcement protests, political extremism and the line between protected demonstration and criminal violence.

For prosecutors, the sentences are intended to signal deterrence in cases involving organized attacks on law enforcement. For the defense and supporters, the ruling strengthens claims that the government treated a political protest as an extremist plot.

The outcome may become a reference point in future cases involving protests outside detention centers and other immigration-related facilities, especially when authorities argue that demonstrations escalated into violence.

The ruling leaves open several questions, including how the appeals will be framed and whether additional related charges will emerge from the wider protest network.