First‑Ever Antifa Terrorism Convictions: Five Plead Guilty in Texas ICE Facility Ambush

Two of the Antifa gangsters claimed depression, one claimed bipolar disorder, and the other two claimed ADHD. The judge found them to be competent and accepted their voluntary guilty plea.

In July, Breitbart’s Paul Bois reported the identification of ten people charged in the attempted murder of ICE agents at the Alvarado facility.

According to a press release from the Justice Department, “the defendants, dressed in black military-style clothing, began shooting fireworks at the facility, as part of an organized attack,” Bois reported.

After approximately 10 minutes of convening, one or two individuals broke off from the main group and began to spray graffiti on vehicles and a guard structure in the parking lot at the facility.  An Alvarado police officer responded to the scene after correctional officers called 911 to report suspicious activity.  When the Alvarado police officer arrived, one alleged defendant positioned in nearby woods shot the officer in the neck area.  Another alleged assailant across the street fired 20 to 30 rounds at unarmed correctional officers who had stepped outside the facility.

As alleged in the complaint, AR-style rifles were found at the scene.  The assailants fled from the detention center but were stopped by additional law enforcement officers.  Some defendants were wearing body armor, some were armed, and some had two-way radios.  A total of twelve sets of body armor were found during searches of vehicles associated with the defendants, on their persons, and in the area around the Prairieland Detention Center.

USA Larson revealed the nine indicted suspects were charged with:

• Riot, with the intent to commit an act of violence, involving conduct such as shooting and throwing fireworks and explosives, slashing tires on a government vehicle, spraying graffiti on property and vehicles, destroying a closed circuit camera, shooting at officers, and dressing in black bloc.
  • Defendants charged:  Cameron Arnold, Zachary Evetts, Benjamin Song, Savanna Batten, Bradford Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto
• Providing Material Support to Terrorists, including property, services, training, communications equipment, weapons, explosives, personnel (including themselves), and transportation.
  • Defendants charged:  Arnold, Evetts, Song, Batten, Morris, Rueda, E. Soto, and I. Soto
• Conspiracy to Use and Carry an Explosive, and Using and Carrying an Explosive, during a riot.
  • Defendants charged:  Arnold, Evetts, Song, Batten, Morris, Rueda, E. Soto, and I. Soto
• Attempted Murder of Officers and Employees of the United States, involving the unlawful attempt to kill with malice aforethought Correctional Officers-1 and 2, and an Alvarado Police Officer.
  • Defendants charged:  Song, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda
• Discharging a Firearm During, and in Relation to, and in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence, i.e., the attempted murder of two correctional officers and an Alvarado Police Officer.
  • Defendants charged:  Song, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda
• Corruptly Concealing a Document or Record, by transporting a box containing numerous Antifa materials, such as insurrection planning, anti-law enforcement, anti-government, and anti-immigration enforcement documents and propaganda from Sanchez Estrada’s residence to a location in Denton, Texas, intending to conceal the box’s contents and impair its availability for use in a federal grand jury and federal criminal proceeding.
  • Defendant charged:  Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada
• Conspiracy to Conceal Documents and other objects that would implicate Maricela Rueda in the riot and shooting at the Prairieland facility.
  • Defendants charged:  Sanchez Estrada and Maricela Rueda

The U.S. Attorney’s office included the following statements from officials:

“This is the first indictment in the country against a group of violent Antifa cell members,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson. “The charges the Grand Jury has leveled against these defendants, including material support for terrorists, address the vicious attack perpetrated by an anti-ICE, anti-law enforcement, anti-government, anarchist group.  I applaud the tenacious work of the FBI, ICE, our state and local law enforcement partners, and the prosecutors and staff in my office. They have tirelessly pursued justice in this case, and will continue to pursue justice in any cases like it. We are firm in our resolve to protect our law enforcement officers and federal facilities against organized domestic terrorist cells.”

“The updated charges in this case underscore the seriousness of the crimes committed at the Prairieland Detention Center on July 4.  We would like to thank our law enforcement partners for assisting us with this investigation. This collaborative effort reflects our collective commitment to holding these individuals accountable for this coordinated attack,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock.

“Four months ago, in an attempt to sow anarchy and chaos and to undermine the rule of law, a coordinated attack was carried out on the Prairieland Detention Center, leaving one of our local law enforcement officers injured and a community in disarray,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Dallas Acting Field Office Director Robert Cerna. “In response, the law enforcement community banded together to expose the cowardly thugs responsible for that heinous attack and hold them accountable.  Yesterday’s indictments are a first step in that process, as we continue to work collectively to ensure that justice is served.”

The now-convicted Antifa terrorists each face up to 15 years in federal prison. They are set for a sentencing hearing on March 12.