Eight US anti-ICE activists have been sentenced to up to 100 years in prison each after being accused of terrorism offences as part of president Donald Trump’s crackdown on antifascist groups.
The draconian sentences relate to a protest at an immigration detention centre in Prairieland, Texas on 4 July last year, where activists set off fireworks in what they said was a noise protest, while others vandalised vehicles and a guard kiosk.
One of the protesters arrived carrying a gun he legally owned. Benjamin Hanil Song, was sentenced to 100 years for attempted murder of a law enforcement officer whom he shot in the shoulder.
Song, a former US Marine Corps reservist, said on Tuesday that he fired his gun because he believed the officer was about to shoot another protester.
“I never want to see good people, standing for what they believe in, gunned down in the street,” he said in a statement.
The convictions are part of Trump’s attempts to criminalise “antifa” as a terrorist organisation, even though it is not a distinct group but a banner describing a wide array of leftwing views.
The protesters had been convicted for various offences, including for providing material support to terrorists and explosives charges.
Maricela Rueda was sentenced to 70 years in prison, while Cameron Arnold, Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Bradford Morris and Elizabeth Soto were each sentenced to 50 years in prison. Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada got 30 years in prison and a ninth defendant, Ines Soto, will be sentenced on 1 July.
Another seven pleaded guilty before the trial to providing material support to terrorists and will also be sentenced on 1 July.
Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor, told the Guardian: “Most often, judges will sentence defendants for separate counts concurrently. Here, it appears that the judge stacked the sentences for each count consecutively. I would have expected lengthy sentences here, more in the ballpark at 15 to 25 years, but nothing like 50 to 100 years.”
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