Seven more people were sentenced to prison on Wednesday over a shooting outside a Texas immigration detention center that wounded a police officer and has left many protesters facing decades behind bars.
Sentences handed down in Fort Worth courtrooms
All but one of the defendants sentenced in Fort Worth courtrooms pleaded guilty to charges related to the shooting outside the Prairieland detention center near Dallas on 4 July last year. They each were sentenced to between nearly two and 15 years in prison.
The final defendant, Ines Soto, who pleaded not guilty but was convicted of charges relating to providing material support to terrorists, riot and planning to use explosives in the form of fireworks, was sentenced to 50 years.
Harsher sentences already given to others
The same judges have already handed down harsher sentences to eight people who were convicted at trial, including a former Marine reservist who received a 100-year prison term. One of those eight was Soto's wife, Elizabeth, who also received a 50-year sentence.
Those sentenced last week received what was effectively life in prison. Another defendant, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was sentenced to 30 years despite not attending the protest.
Federal charges and political context
The US federal government charged the protesters with conspiring to ambush a law enforcement officer as part of so-called 'antifa', short for the loosely networked anti-fascist movement. The government has categorized antifa as a terrorist threat, though antifa is not one organization or group.
To make their case, the FBI included political literature found in the defendants' homes. The case has been closely watched by critics who say the prosecutions could have serious implications for protesters nationwide and first amendment free-speech rights.
Judge's comments and defense arguments
US district judge Reed O'Connor called the protest an 'assault on democracy' before he and another judge handed down lengthy prison sentences last week to eight others who were convicted on terrorism charges.
The six defendants who did not stand trial had pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists. One of them testified at the earlier trial that he spray-painted a guard shack and vehicles in the parking lot.
Protesters' attorneys have insisted there was no planned ambush and that the people who took firearms to the demonstration did so for their own protection. They argue the gathering was planned as a late-night demonstration with fireworks to show support for immigrants detained inside the facility.
Prosecutors told jurors at trial that the group's actions – including bringing firearms, first aid kits and wearing body armor – signaled nefarious intent. In interviews with the Guardian, the defendants argued they were exercising their constitutional second amendment rights in light of law enforcement violence against anti-ICE protesters, and that their first aid kits were meant as a precaution.
Previous sentences and appeals
Benjamin 'Champagne' Song, the former US marine reservist who was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting, was sentenced to 100 years in prison, and seven others received prison terms ranging from 30 to 70 years. Some of them, including Song as well as Elizabeth Soto, have filed notices of appeal.
