By Victoria Albert
Eight protesters accused of carrying out an attack on a Texas ICE facility last summer were sentenced to decades in prison on Tuesday, with one receiving a 100-year sentence.
More than a dozen people have been convicted or pleaded guilty in connection with an incident at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, in July. Prosecutors said the group damaged vehicles, set off fireworks toward the facility, and shot at an Alvarado police officer and unarmed corrections officers. The police officer was hit in the neck and injured.
Nearly all of the people sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas were convicted of rioting and providing material support to terrorists, among other charges. Benjamin Song, who prosecutors described as the group's leader, was also convicted of attempted murder.
Song was sentenced Tuesday to 100 years in prison. Others received sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years. Eight other people will be sentenced on July 1.
D. Miles Brissette, an attorney for protester Meagan Morris, said his client went to Alvarado that night expecting a peaceful demonstration and felt deceived by what unfolded. Brissette said Morris and her family were devastated by the 50-year sentence she received for rioting and providing material support to terrorists, among other charges, and planned to appeal the decision.
Attorneys for the other protesters didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The DFW Support Committee, a group supporting the protesters, said the defendants were wrongly being "thrown away for the rest of their lives."
"The egregious sentencing is to send a message to anyone with the same beliefs," the group said. "We will continue to fight to bring our loved ones home."
The long sentences highlight the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on protests during its immigration enforcement push. Prosecutors have made several attempts to convict protesters for obstructing immigration-enforcement efforts. Earlier this month, federal prosecutors in Minnesota charged 15 people they say were members of a coordinated effort to block enforcement during Operation Metro Surge this winter.
Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, called the sentences "a win for the rule of law."
Prosecutors said the protesters belonged to a cell of antifa, a loose network of far-left groups and individuals who promote antifascism that the Trump administration has labeled a domestic terrorist organization.
Philip Hayes, Song's attorney, denied that the protesters were extremists. "This is a bunch of kids and young adults who really have a really big heart and really wanted their voice to be heard," he said, according to the Associated Press. "It was never intended that anybody get hurt. It was never intended that any shots would be fired."
Write to Victoria Albert at victoria.albert@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 23, 2026 15:39 ET (19:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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