Guilty verdict reached in first-ever antifa terrorism trial
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
Nine suspected members of a Texas antifa cell were found guilty on Friday in the nation’s first-ever federal case to bring terrorism charges against alleged antifa operatives.
Though the convictions varied depending on the defendant, none will be walking free.
The jury trial, which lasted three weeks, was widely seen as a test of the Justice Department’s first courtroom attempt to treat criminal actors who organize behind an antifa ideology as a terrorist group after President Donald Trump designated antifa as a domestic terrorist threat.
Charges and verdict
The cell’s alleged ringleader, Benjamin Hanil Song, alongside jointly charged co-conspirators Zachary Jared Evetts, Savanna Sue Batten, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Andrea Soto, Ines Houston Soto, Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, Cameron James Arnold, and Bradford Winston Morris, were convicted on a slew of wide-ranging crimes connected to a July 2025 attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Alvarado, Texas.
The verdict was mixed, but the defendants were convicted on a majority of the 65 total counts.
Arnold, Evetts, Song, Batten, Morris, Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto were convicted of rioting, “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.”
The antifa cell allegedly vandalized vehicles parked in the lot adjacent to the Alvarado facility, slashing tires and spray painting anti-ICE phrases on nearby property. (Justice Department)
All of the same defendants except Batten were convicted of conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, the use and carry of an explosive, and providing material support to terrorists, including property, services, training, communications equipment, weapons, explosives, manpower, and transportation.
Song, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda were additionally charged with attempting to murder federal officers and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime
According to the charging documents, two security guards were lured outside by the sound of explosives into the line of fire, and an Alvarado Police Department officer who was at the scene answering a disturbance call was shot in the neck but survived.
Song, however, was the only one convicted on the attempted murder and firearm charges, while …
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
Nine suspected members of a Texas antifa cell were found guilty on Friday in the nation’s first-ever federal case to bring terrorism charges against alleged antifa operatives.
Though the convictions varied depending on the defendant, none will be walking free.
The jury trial, which lasted three weeks, was widely seen as a test of the Justice Department’s first courtroom attempt to treat criminal actors who organize behind an antifa ideology as a terrorist group after President Donald Trump designated antifa as a domestic terrorist threat.
Charges and verdict
The cell’s alleged ringleader, Benjamin Hanil Song, alongside jointly charged co-conspirators Zachary Jared Evetts, Savanna Sue Batten, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Andrea Soto, Ines Houston Soto, Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, Cameron James Arnold, and Bradford Winston Morris, were convicted on a slew of wide-ranging crimes connected to a July 2025 attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Alvarado, Texas.
The verdict was mixed, but the defendants were convicted on a majority of the 65 total counts.
Arnold, Evetts, Song, Batten, Morris, Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto were convicted of rioting, “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.”
The antifa cell allegedly vandalized vehicles parked in the lot adjacent to the Alvarado facility, slashing tires and spray painting anti-ICE phrases on nearby property. (Justice Department)
All of the same defendants except Batten were convicted of conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, the use and carry of an explosive, and providing material support to terrorists, including property, services, training, communications equipment, weapons, explosives, manpower, and transportation.
Song, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda were additionally charged with attempting to murder federal officers and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime
According to the charging documents, two security guards were lured outside by the sound of explosives into the line of fire, and an Alvarado Police Department officer who was at the scene answering a disturbance call was shot in the neck but survived.
Song, however, was the only one convicted on the attempted murder and firearm charges, while …
Guilty verdict reached in first-ever antifa terrorism trial
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
Nine suspected members of a Texas antifa cell were found guilty on Friday in the nation’s first-ever federal case to bring terrorism charges against alleged antifa operatives.
Though the convictions varied depending on the defendant, none will be walking free.
The jury trial, which lasted three weeks, was widely seen as a test of the Justice Department’s first courtroom attempt to treat criminal actors who organize behind an antifa ideology as a terrorist group after President Donald Trump designated antifa as a domestic terrorist threat.
Charges and verdict
The cell’s alleged ringleader, Benjamin Hanil Song, alongside jointly charged co-conspirators Zachary Jared Evetts, Savanna Sue Batten, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Andrea Soto, Ines Houston Soto, Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, Cameron James Arnold, and Bradford Winston Morris, were convicted on a slew of wide-ranging crimes connected to a July 2025 attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Alvarado, Texas.
The verdict was mixed, but the defendants were convicted on a majority of the 65 total counts.
Arnold, Evetts, Song, Batten, Morris, Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto were convicted of rioting, “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.”
The antifa cell allegedly vandalized vehicles parked in the lot adjacent to the Alvarado facility, slashing tires and spray painting anti-ICE phrases on nearby property. (Justice Department)
All of the same defendants except Batten were convicted of conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, the use and carry of an explosive, and providing material support to terrorists, including property, services, training, communications equipment, weapons, explosives, manpower, and transportation.
Song, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda were additionally charged with attempting to murder federal officers and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime
According to the charging documents, two security guards were lured outside by the sound of explosives into the line of fire, and an Alvarado Police Department officer who was at the scene answering a disturbance call was shot in the neck but survived.
Song, however, was the only one convicted on the attempted murder and firearm charges, while …
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