ALVARADO, TEXAS — A federal jury in Fort Worth convicted nine protesters on terrorism and attempted murder charges stemming from a July 4, 2025 attack at the ICE Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas. Eight defendants were convicted of providing material support for terrorism, while Benjamin Song was convicted of attempted murder.

On the evening of July 4, 2025, around a dozen people arrived at the ICE Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas, nearly thirty miles south of Fort Worth. The protesters wore black and brought Roman candles, first-aid kits, bubbles, a bullhorn, and a flag that read "Resist Fascism, Fight Oligarchy." A few of the protesters brought body armor and firearms.

From a distance of at least fifty yards, the group launched fireworks into the air and relayed messages of encouragement in Spanish through a bullhorn. A young man whom no one in the group had met before brought spray paint to the demonstration. Someone wrote "fuck you pigs" on a guard shack. Someone slashed the tires of an ICE van.

Two unarmed guards emerged from the facility and told the protesters to leave. An officer of the Alvarado Police Department drove up, exited his car, and drew his weapon. Benjamin Song fired his AR-15-style weapon. The officer was struck near his collarbone and returned fire. Benjamin Song's gun jammed and he ran from the scene.

Most of the protesters were arrested soon afterward. Benjamin Song was apprehended eleven days after the shooting. Initially, Benjamin Song and other protesters present at the Prairieland facility were charged with attempted murder. In November, prosecutors released a new indictment referring to the Prairieland defendants as operatives in a North Texas Antifa Cell and adding a charge of material support for terrorism.

The federal trial of the nine Prairieland defendants lasted three weeks. After the shooting, law enforcement officers searched the defendants' cars, apartments, and a brick home nicknamed the Big Gay House. Officers seized firearms, body armor, and a printing press. Officers photographed a hoodie that said "chinga la migra" and a drawing of President Trump with a swastika.

Officers investigated the Emma Goldman Book Club, an anarchist reading group to which several defendants belonged. Officers collected publications titled "Organizing for Attack! Insurrectionary Anarchy," "Visualize Industrial Collapse," and a zine titled "The Satanic Death Cult Is Real," which offers a feminist analysis of horror movies. Law enforcement pulled over Daniel Sanchez Estrada on suspicion of removing a box of explosives from his wife's home. Daniel Sanchez Estrada was not at the Prairieland facility on the night of the incident. Daniel Sanchez Estrada was charged with conspiracy and hiding evidence. Daniel Sanchez Estrada was found guilty.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith argued in closing statements that the defendants could have known Benjamin Song would shoot a police officer because of Antifa. "Today's verdict on terrorism charges will not be the last as the Trump Administration systematically dismantles Antifa and finally halts their violence on America's streets," said Attorney General Pam Bondi.