<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/23/prairieland-ice-protesters-texas-sentenced>
"A group of Texas protesters convicted of terrorism charges received unusually
harsh sentences of at least 50 years in prison on Tuesday in a closely watched
case that was widely seen as a test case of the Trump administration’s efforts
to crack down on dissent.
After a three-week jury trial, the nine activists were all found guilty of a
slew of criminal charges in March, stemming from a Fourth of July protest at an
immigrant detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, south of Fort Worth. The
demonstrators arrived late at night with a plan to set off fireworks as part of
a noise demonstration to show solidarity with those detained inside. A few of
the protesters spontaneously broke off from the main group and vandalized cars
in the parking lot, a guard shack, slashed the tires on a government van and
broke a security camera. When a police officer arrived on the scene and drew
his weapon, one of the activists fired an AR-15 from the woods, hitting the
officer in the shoulder. The officer survived.
Benjamin Song, who fired the gun at the police officer, was sentenced to 100
years in prison. Song was convicted of attempted murder of an officer of the
United States, as well as firearm and explosives charges. He was also convicted
of riot, providing material support to terrorists. He faced anywhere from 20
years to life in prison.
Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Savanna Batten, Elizabeth Soto and Meagan Morris
were sentenced to 50 years in prison. Maricela Rueda, another demonstrator, was
sentenced to 70 years in prison. All six were convicted of riot, providing
material support to terrorist, and explosive charges. Rueda was also convicted
of corruptly concealing a document or record.
Evetts, Hill, Morris and Rueda were acquitted on attempted murder and firearms
charges.
The sentences handed down on Tuesday were unusually long, said Barbara McQuade,
a former federal prosecutor who served as the US attorney for the eastern
district of Michigan during the Obama administration.
“Most often, judges will sentence defendants for separate counts concurrently.
Here, it appears that the judge stacked the sentences for each count
consecutively. I would have expected lengthy sentences here, more in the
ballpark at 15 to 25 years, but nothing like 50 to 100 years,” she wrote in an
email."
I hope they’re first in line for pardons from the next president, under the Jan
6 riot precedent already set.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
