A jury has indicted nine “North Texas Antifa Cell” members in this summer’s ambush on an ICE facility in Alvarado.

A federal jury in Fort Worth indicted nine alleged Antifa members – and charged seven more “by information” – on November 13 for their roles in the July 4 attack on the ICE Prairieland Detention Facility, according to a press release from the Department of Justice. 

“This is the first indictment in the country against a group of violent Antifa cell members,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy Larson in the release. “We are firm in our resolve to protect our law enforcement officers and federal facilities against organized domestic terrorist cells.”

Militants surrounded the ICE facility overnight, igniting fireworks, committing vandalism, and shooting an Alvarado police officer in the neck, as The Dallas Express reported. Officials initially charged 11 suspects, but Benjamin Song – accused of firing one of the guns – fled, and the FBI captured him more than a week later.

“The updated charges in this case underscore the seriousness of the crimes committed,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock in the release. “This collaborative effort reflects our collective commitment to holding these individuals accountable for this coordinated attack.”

The recent 12-count indictment charges Song, Bradford Morris – a man who goes by “Meagan Morris,” Cameron Arnold – a man who goes by “Autumn Hill,” Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, Maricela Rueda, and Savanna Batten for their roles in the attack, according to the release.

They are scheduled for federal arraignment on December 3.

Officials also filed “information” – beginning criminal proceedings – against John Thomas, Joy Gibson, Lynette Sharp, Nathan Baumann, Rebecca Morgan, and Susan Kent, accusing them of “providing material support to terrorists.” Officials also levied the charge against Seth Sikes in late October. 

Thomas, Gibson, Sharp, Baumann, and Sikes will face guilty plea hearings in federal court the week of November 17. Morgan is set to plead guilty the following week.

The most recent indictment marks the first federal charge against a group of Antifa cell members, after President Donald Trump named it a domestic terror organization in September.

The suspects face the following charges:

  • Riot – to commit an act of violence, with conduct like 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.
    • Arnold, Evetts, Song, Batten, Morris, Rueda, Elizabeth, and Ines Soto
  • Providing Material Support to Terrorists – including property, services, training, communications equipment, weapons, explosives, personnel (including themselves), and transportation.
    • Arnold, Evetts, Song, Batten, Morris, Rueda, Elizabeth, and Ines Soto.
  • Conspiracy to Use and Carry an Explosive; Using and Carrying an Explosive – during a riot.
    • Arnold, Evetts, Song, Batten, Morris, Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto.
  • Attempted Murder of Officers and Employees of the United States – to attempt to kill, with “malice aforethought,” two corrections officers and an Alvarado police officer.
    • Song, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda.
  • Discharging a Firearm During, and in Relation to, and in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence – the attempted murder of the corrections officers and the police officer.
    • Song, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda.
  • Corruptly Concealing a Document or Record – for bringing a box with Antifa materials, like insurrection planning, anti-law enforcement, anti-government, and anti-immigration enforcement documents and propaganda, from Sanchez-Estrada’s home to Denton to conceal its contents and impair its use in court.
    • Sanchez-Estrada.
  • Conspiracy to Conceal Documents – and other items that could implicate Rueda in the riot and shooting.
    • Rueda and Sanchez-Estrada.

If convicted, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, Rueda, and Song each face a potential sentence of 10 years to life in federal prison. Batten and the Sotos could each face 10 to 50 years, while Sanchez-Estrada faces up to 20 years for each count. 

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Baumann, Gibson, Kent, Morgan, Sharp, Sikes, and Thomas could each face up to 15 years in prison for providing material support to terrorists.

“The defendants were members of a North Texas Antifa Cell, part of a larger militant enterprise made up of networks of individuals and small groups primarily ascribing to an ideology that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and the system of law,” the release reads, citing the charges. 

Antifa works by obstructing federal law through organized riots, violent assaults, and armed confrontation with law enforcement – increasingly against ICE, to obstruct immigration enforcement. 

“The indictment alleges that most of the Antifa Cell involved in the Prairieland attack looked to Benjamin Song as a leader,” the release reads. “As alleged, Song acquired firearms that he distributed to co-defendants and recruited members at gun ranges and combat sessions he conducted, as well as from various ideologically aligned groups.”

Batten and the Sotos were allegedly part of a group that produced and distributed pro-insurrection materials, known as “zines,” according to the release. 

The Antifa cell allegedly obtained more than 50 guns in the Dallas-Fort Worth area ahead of the ICE ambush, according to the release. While law enforcement was searching for Song, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported, they busted a residence where they missed the suspect – but found Antifa members, socialist propaganda, and more than 40 guns. 

Suspects reportedly used an “encrypted messaging app” to coordinate, with auto-delete functions that permanently erased some of their communications. 

“They also used monikers in group chats to hide their identities, and some of the planning chats included only trusted participants,” the release reads. “Members in this limited group allegedly conducted reconnaissance and discussed what to bring to the riot, including firearms, medical kits, and fireworks.”

Late on July 4, militants in black body armor allegedly surrounded the ICE facility in Alvarado, south of Fort Worth, as The Dallas Express reported. Gunmen took their positions and fired at ICE corrections officers, striking an Alvarado police officer.

The defendants were dressed in “black bloc,” characterized by dark clothing with head and face coverings that concealed their identities, according to the release. After arriving at the facility, they reportedly began vandalizing vehicles and a guard house, and shooting and throwing fireworks.

 

Corrections officers called 911, and an Alvarado police officer responded. He reportedly began issuing commands to Baumann when Song allegedly cried, “Get to the rifles!”

The suspects allegedly opened fire on the officers, striking the police officer in the neck while unarmed corrections officers ran for cover. 

Soon after the attack, police arrested most members of the Antifa cell, including many near the scene. But Song escaped, and the FBI captured him on July 15 at the apartment of his likely girlfriend, as The Dallas Express reported at the time. 

Federal agencies, including FBI-Dallas, ICE-Enforcement and Removal Office, and ATF, investigated this case. Other agencies, including the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Alvarado Police Department, and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, also assisted.

The Alvarado ICE ambush was just one instance of many acts of violence against immigration enforcement recently. 

Soon after, as The Dallas Express reported, a gunman attacked Customs and Border Protection in McAllen on July 7 – wounding one agent and two officers. His apparent car was marked “Cordis Die,” the slogan of a fictional revolutionary movement in the video game Call of Duty.

More recently, a sniper targeted the Dallas ICE facility on September 24. While he apparently tried to murder immigration agents, he killed two detainees and wounded another.

“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-ERO Dallas Acting Field Director Robert Cerna. “The law enforcement community banded together to expose the cowardly thugs responsible for that heinous attack and hold them accountable.”