8 convicted of Texas immigration center shooting sentenced to decades in prison

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - AUSTIN — Eight people who who allegedly have ties to an anti-fascist group have collectively been sentenced to 450 years in prison for their roles in a riot outside an immigration detention center in Alvarado, Texas.

A demonstrator who shot and wounded a police officer outside a Texas immigration center last July 4 was sentenced to 100 years in federal prison Tuesday, while seven other protesters accused of having links to Antifa received prison terms ranging between 30 to 70 years, according to the justice department.

Benjamin Song, a former US Marine Corps reservist, was convicted of attempted murder last March after prosecutors said he opened fire and wounded a police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado.

A US judge called their actions on "an assault on democracy", while their families condemned the length of their sentences.

“Our issue with this case has always been this isn’t a bunch of terrorists. This is a bunch of kids and young adults who really have a really big heart and really wanted their voice to be heard,” Philip Hayes, Song’s attorney, said outside the federal courthouse in Fort Worth. “It was never intended that anybody get hurt. It was never intended that any shots would be fired.”

US District Judge Reed O’Connor, one of two judges overseeing the proceedings, said what happened last July wasn’t a protest but “an assault on democracy.”

“The need to deter this type of conduct is high,” O’Connor said.

Hayes said his client will appeal the sentence.

“Song, aside from this day, has had an impeccable life. A former Marine. A good student,” he said. “He had a lot of good qualities that were just ignored. The judge went ahead and gave as much as he could.”

One of the defendants, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was convicted of corruptly concealing a document and conspiracy to conceal documents. He received a 30-year prison term Tuesday.

Others pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists rather than take their case to trial.

Prosecutors say the eight are members of antifa, a decentralized anti-fascist organization that has become a target of the Trump administration. 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.

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.

The defendants deny any affiliation with Antifa and maintain they attended the demonstration to show support for immigrants inside the detention center.

Critics warn the case could have wide-reaching impact on protests given that organizations operating within the US are supposed to be protected by First Amendment free-speech rights.

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.