Federal and state officials are barreling ahead with the first terrorism case in American history that targets an “Antifa cell.”
Seven pleaded guilty, nine are set for federal trial in January and at least two more face state charges over an Antifa-linked July 4 shooting attack at a Texas immigration facility, reports and court records show. The case shows what President Donald Trump’s labeling of Antifa as a domestic terrorist threat means in practice for investigating and prosecuting suspects.
Federal officials charged alleged ringleader Benjamin Song, Cameron Arnold, Zachary Evetts, Savanna Batten, Bradford Morris, Maricela Rueda, Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada, Elizabeth Soto and Ines Soto with riot, terrorism, attempted murder, firearm, explosive and evidence tampering crimes, documents show. They face decades in prison if convicted. Texas officials also widened the net of arrestees after the shooting to include alleged accomplices.
The FBI’s investigation is still open “until the judicial outcomes are complete for each defendant,” the bureau’s Dallas field office told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
A lawyer for Elizabeth Soto declined to comment to the DCNF. Attorneys and law offices representing the other non-convicted defendants did not respond to requests for comment. Morris, a lawyer for Evetts and members of Batten and Arnold’s households have denied that they planned violence, in comments to media outlets.
Evetts’ attorney called the DOJ’s prosecution “novel” in a Nov. 10 court filing, arguing it could threaten the rights to free expression and bearing arms. “It has been widely publicized as the first case in which American citizens are being prosecuted under [terrorism law] for providing material support to ‘Antifa,’” he wrote.
The Trump administration has revealed materials advocating “insurrectionary anarchy” and other items in the defendants’ possession as evidence of their Antifa ideology.
“I’m done with peaceful protests,” an unnamed defendant wrote in a group chat before the ambush, according to the DOJ. “Blue lives don’t matter.”
‘Get To The Rifles’
The DOJ’s grand jury indictments in the case show a rare example of the government formally defining Antifa, giving a framework for future prosecutions.
“Antifa is a militant enterprise made up of networks of individuals and small groups primarily ascribing to a revolutionary anarchist or autonomous Marxist ideology, which explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and the system of law,” the DOJ wrote in October. The definition borrowed phrasing from a September White House order designating Antifa a terrorist organization.
The legal saga kicked off on the night of July 4, when around a dozen people wearing black clothing began launching fireworks and vandalizing vehicles at a migrant detention center in Alvarado, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Alvarado police officers arrived minutes later to help federal agents guard the building. When one stepped out of his vehicle to speak to the protesters, someone in a nearby wooded area yelled “get to the rifles” and opened fire, hitting the officer in the neck and nearly killing him, charging documents say.
Multiple rioters shot 20 to 30 rounds during the scuffle, the DOJ said. Authorities caught seven suspects near the scene within minutes, another at a nearby traffic stop and one more walking on a highway that night. Court documents name the first shooter as Song, a former Marine reservist in his 30s who allegedly purchased and fired guns tied to the incident and hid in the forest until the following night. Investigators found one rifle he owned lying in the woods.
The Antifa group’s members relied on encrypted messages, nicknames and “black bloc” clothing to avoid prosecution, the DOJ found. But their support structure began to crack under the federal probe, and by November, seven had confessed to aiding in the terror cell’s crimes and received the first Antifa-related terrorism convictions in U.S. history, records show.
Joy Gibson, Nathan Baumann and Seth Sikes, who were all arrested July 4, admitted in court documents to helping their comrades plan the “direct action” at the migrant facility, with Gibson texting a picture of a surveillance camera on the building as part of their daytime “reconnaissance.”
‘Most Wanted Fugitive’
The number of federal and state defendants in the attack rose to 18 after officials accused six people of trying to help those involved, including Song, skirt accountability.
“Most of the Antifa Cell looked to Song as a leader,” a DOJ indictment says about the Dallas resident.
The young activist recruited people to his cause at gun ranges and combat trainings he hosted, prosecutors said. Song and other defendants were also part of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, a group that gathered in black outfits with guns to protest conservatives or guard LGBTQ events across North Texas in recent years, The Washington Post reported. John Brown Gun Clubs quietly formed across the country in
Song evaded federal and Texas law enforcement for eleven days after the shooting and made it onto the state’s “Most Wanted Fugitive” list. Lynette Sharp, Rebecca Morgan, Susan Kent and John Thomas later confessed to prosecutors that they discussed plans to hide Song, gave him a wig and other items to disguise himself and transferred him to Morgan’s carin a parking lot. Officials asked the public for tips and eventually moved in with a SWAT team to arrest him in Morgan’s Dallas home on July 15, WFAA reported.
Johnson County police arrested Dario Sanchez the same day for allegedly hiding evidence in the terrorist attack by deleting individuals from group chats, KERA reported, citing court documents. Sanchez’s lawyer told the outlet that “he did nothing wrong.”
The county also arrested Janette Goering on Oct. 21, charging her with helping Song protect his electronic devices from tracking and meeting with others to discuss hiding him, KERA reported, citing a complaint.
“I know that individuals who affiliate with ‘ANTIFA’ ideology have or are willing to engage in acts of violence to affect a political change or influence governmental operation,” a Texas detective reportedly wrote, echoing the DOJ.
Along with their federal trial, Song and several others face state charges over the July 4th attack, records show.
Song’s cohort obtained more than 50 firearms ahead of the shooting, according to a DOJ indictment. Before the incident brought their Antifa cell crashing down, Song told fellow activists that loading up on weapons would intimidate cops and offer protection, prosecutors alleged.
“Arnold asked Song if they would be bringing guns to the July 4 action,” the indictment says, describing an in-person meeting. “Song replied that they would because he would not be going to jail.”
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