Feds: Guilty plea hearings scheduled for Antifa members indicted on terror charges

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Several defendants who are among the first indicted on terrorism-related charges for their alleged connection to an Antifa attack on law enforcement officers are scheduled to plead guilty this week and next, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas. The charges came after President Donald Trump designated Antifa a domestic terror organization in response to a question from The Center Square.

A grand jury indicted nine North Texas Antifa Cell operatives on charges of providing material support to terrorists in the July 4 attack against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.

“This is the first indictment in the country against a group of violent Antifa cell members,” Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy Larson said. “The charges the Grand Jury has leveled against these defendants, including material support for terrorists, address the vicious attack perpetrated by an anti-ICE, anti-law enforcement, anti-government, anarchist group.”

Terrorism charges were brought after President Donald Trump designated Antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization” in September and directed federal agencies “to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations” connected to Antifa, The Center Square reported.

Charges also brought against the nine include riot,with the intent to commit an act of violence; conspiracy to use and carry an explosive and doing so during a riot; attempted murder of officers and federal employees; discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence; and document concealment.

Updated charges brought in the case “underscore the seriousness of the crimes committed,” FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Joseph Rothrock said.

Overall, 16 were charged for their alleged role in a planned ambush with an intent to kill ICE officers. The attackers wore black clothes, tactical gear and body armor, shot fireworks at the facility, fired at an Alvarado police officer and unarmed corrections officers and vandalized the property, ICE said. Flyers were also found at the scene stating, “fight ICE terror with class war, free all political prisoners,” The Center Square reported.

A 12-count indictment charges Cameron Arnold, Zachary Evetts, Benjamin Song, Savanna Batten, Bradford Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada with multiple offenses for their alleged roles in the attack. Their arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 3.

Seven others were charged by with rioting, using weapons and explosives, providing material support to terrorists, obstruction, and attempted murder of an Alvarado police officer and unarmed correctional officers. Some defendants were charged with multiple offenses.

Six others, Nathan Baumann, Joy Gibson, Susan Kent, Rebecca Morgan, Lynette Sharp and John Thomas, were charged with providing material support to terrorists. Seth Sikes was charged with one count of providing material support to terrorists.

Guilty plea hearings for Baumann, Gibson, Thomas, Sharp and Sikes are scheduled this week; Morgan is scheduled to plead guilty next week, Larson’s office said.

The charges state the defendants were members of a North Texas Antifa Cell, which is “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.” Antifa groups organize riots, violent assaults, and armed confrontations with law enforcement officers, and are targeting federal immigration officials, Trump’s order states.

The indictment alleges the leader of the group was Benjamin Song, who authorities say opened fire on the officers, striking the Alvarado police officer in the neck. Song, authorities allege, fled the scene, prompting a week-long manhunt ending in his arrest.

“Four months ago, in an attempt 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,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Dallas Acting Field Office Director Robert Cerna said. “In response, the law enforcement community banded together to expose the cowardly thugs responsible for that heinous attack and hold them accountable.” The indictments “are a first step in that process, as we continue to work collectively to ensure that justice is served.”

If convicted, Song, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda face between 10 years and life in prison. Batten, Elizabeth Soto and Ines Soto each face 10 to 50 years in prison. Sanchez Estrada faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.

Providing material support to terrorists charges brought against Baumann, Gibson, Kent, Morgan, Sharp, Thomas and Sikes carry up to 15 years in prison.

The charges were brought after FBI—Dallas led a multi-agency investigation including ICE-ERO Dallas, ATF, Texas Department of Public Safety, Alvarado Police Department, and Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank Gatto and Shawn Smith are prosecuting the case.