Trump Wants to Criminalize Dissent. This Texas Case Could Help Him Do It.
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
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Trump Wants to Criminalize Dissent. This Texas Case Could Help Him Do It.
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Activism
/ March 12, 2026
Trump Wants to Criminalize Dissent. This Texas Case Could Help Him Do It.
The Prairieland Defendants are on trial in a case that could set a chilling precedent for the right to protest in the United States.
Sara Van Horn
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Posters supporting the Prairieland Defendants outside the courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas.
(Sara Van Horn)
Lydia Koza remembers standing at the stove on the evening of July 5, 2025, sauteeing vegetables for her wife, when she heard loud banging. Her roommate yelled something about a raid, and Koza hit the floor, hands in the air, worried she was going to be killed.
Instead, FBI agents ordered all eight inhabitants out of the house, including Koza’s roommate, who held a one-month-old infant. As they stood barefoot outside with guns pointed at them, the FBI arrested Koza’s wife, Autumn Hill. Koza hasn’t seen Hill, outside of jail or court, in the eight months since.
Hill is one of nine people currently standing trial for events stemming from a small protest that took place on July 4, 2025, at the Prairieland Detention Center just outside of Dallas, in which a police officer was non-fatally shot. According to participants, the protest was meant to be a noisy but peaceful show of solidarity with ICE detainees held in the prison. Now, the “Prairieland Defendants” have been charged with participation in what the Trump administration has called a “terrorist attack.”
The Prairieland case marks the first time the federal government has ever filed terrorism charges against “antifa”—a term, short for “antifascist,” that has become a watchword for the Trump administration’s attempted crackdown on left-wing protest. A verdict is expected either this Thursday or Friday.
If convicted, the Prairieland Defendants face decades or even life in prison. Legal experts say their case could set a chilling precedent when it comes to the ability of the government to criminalize protest in the United States.
“We keep saying the process is the punishment,” said Koza. “These charges are ridiculous. They don’t represent anything real. Their objective since the beginning of this case has been to wear people down into compliance. Into accepting their framing of this situation, even though it’s insane.”
Current Issue
April 2026 Issue
Nearly three weeks of testimony have clarified certain facts about what happened at the protest. Around 10:30 pm, some protesters set off fireworks, slashed tires, and spray-painted anti-ICE messages on a guard building and a police car. When police showed up to confront them, one officer sustained a non-fatal gunshot …
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
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Trump Wants to Criminalize Dissent. This Texas Case Could Help Him Do It.
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Current Issue
Activism
/ March 12, 2026
Trump Wants to Criminalize Dissent. This Texas Case Could Help Him Do It.
The Prairieland Defendants are on trial in a case that could set a chilling precedent for the right to protest in the United States.
Sara Van Horn
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Posters supporting the Prairieland Defendants outside the courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas.
(Sara Van Horn)
Lydia Koza remembers standing at the stove on the evening of July 5, 2025, sauteeing vegetables for her wife, when she heard loud banging. Her roommate yelled something about a raid, and Koza hit the floor, hands in the air, worried she was going to be killed.
Instead, FBI agents ordered all eight inhabitants out of the house, including Koza’s roommate, who held a one-month-old infant. As they stood barefoot outside with guns pointed at them, the FBI arrested Koza’s wife, Autumn Hill. Koza hasn’t seen Hill, outside of jail or court, in the eight months since.
Hill is one of nine people currently standing trial for events stemming from a small protest that took place on July 4, 2025, at the Prairieland Detention Center just outside of Dallas, in which a police officer was non-fatally shot. According to participants, the protest was meant to be a noisy but peaceful show of solidarity with ICE detainees held in the prison. Now, the “Prairieland Defendants” have been charged with participation in what the Trump administration has called a “terrorist attack.”
The Prairieland case marks the first time the federal government has ever filed terrorism charges against “antifa”—a term, short for “antifascist,” that has become a watchword for the Trump administration’s attempted crackdown on left-wing protest. A verdict is expected either this Thursday or Friday.
If convicted, the Prairieland Defendants face decades or even life in prison. Legal experts say their case could set a chilling precedent when it comes to the ability of the government to criminalize protest in the United States.
“We keep saying the process is the punishment,” said Koza. “These charges are ridiculous. They don’t represent anything real. Their objective since the beginning of this case has been to wear people down into compliance. Into accepting their framing of this situation, even though it’s insane.”
Current Issue
April 2026 Issue
Nearly three weeks of testimony have clarified certain facts about what happened at the protest. Around 10:30 pm, some protesters set off fireworks, slashed tires, and spray-painted anti-ICE messages on a guard building and a police car. When police showed up to confront them, one officer sustained a non-fatal gunshot …
Trump Wants to Criminalize Dissent. This Texas Case Could Help Him Do It.
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
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Trump Wants to Criminalize Dissent. This Texas Case Could Help Him Do It.
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Magazine
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Current Issue
Activism
/ March 12, 2026
Trump Wants to Criminalize Dissent. This Texas Case Could Help Him Do It.
The Prairieland Defendants are on trial in a case that could set a chilling precedent for the right to protest in the United States.
Sara Van Horn
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Posters supporting the Prairieland Defendants outside the courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas.
(Sara Van Horn)
Lydia Koza remembers standing at the stove on the evening of July 5, 2025, sauteeing vegetables for her wife, when she heard loud banging. Her roommate yelled something about a raid, and Koza hit the floor, hands in the air, worried she was going to be killed.
Instead, FBI agents ordered all eight inhabitants out of the house, including Koza’s roommate, who held a one-month-old infant. As they stood barefoot outside with guns pointed at them, the FBI arrested Koza’s wife, Autumn Hill. Koza hasn’t seen Hill, outside of jail or court, in the eight months since.
Hill is one of nine people currently standing trial for events stemming from a small protest that took place on July 4, 2025, at the Prairieland Detention Center just outside of Dallas, in which a police officer was non-fatally shot. According to participants, the protest was meant to be a noisy but peaceful show of solidarity with ICE detainees held in the prison. Now, the “Prairieland Defendants” have been charged with participation in what the Trump administration has called a “terrorist attack.”
The Prairieland case marks the first time the federal government has ever filed terrorism charges against “antifa”—a term, short for “antifascist,” that has become a watchword for the Trump administration’s attempted crackdown on left-wing protest. A verdict is expected either this Thursday or Friday.
If convicted, the Prairieland Defendants face decades or even life in prison. Legal experts say their case could set a chilling precedent when it comes to the ability of the government to criminalize protest in the United States.
“We keep saying the process is the punishment,” said Koza. “These charges are ridiculous. They don’t represent anything real. Their objective since the beginning of this case has been to wear people down into compliance. Into accepting their framing of this situation, even though it’s insane.”
Current Issue
April 2026 Issue
Nearly three weeks of testimony have clarified certain facts about what happened at the protest. Around 10:30 pm, some protesters set off fireworks, slashed tires, and spray-painted anti-ICE messages on a guard building and a police car. When police showed up to confront them, one officer sustained a non-fatal gunshot …
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