Remainder of Antifa Cell Members in North Texas Sentenced for Terrorist Attack on ICE Facility

Remainder of Antifa Cell Members in North Texas Sentenced for Terrorist Attack on ICE Facility

Seven Additional Defendants Sentenced Before One-Year Anniversary of Attack to a Combined 182 Years in Prison

Today, before the one-year anniversary of their attack, seven North Texas Antifa Cell operatives were sentenced for their roles in rioting, using weapons and explosives, providing material support to terrorists, obstruction, and the attempted murder of an Alvarado police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center on July 4, 2025, announced United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.

This is the second round of sentencing for the defendants affiliated with Antifa following President Donald J. Trump's executive orderLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. designating the group as a Domestic Terrorist Organization in September 2025.

Last week, the ringleader, Benjamin Hanil Song, was sentenced to 100 years in prison.

Today, the balance of the Prairieland terrorists received a combined sentence of 106 years in prison:

• Ines Soto was sentenced to 50 years in prison;
• Joy Gibson was sentenced to 15 years in prison;
• Rebecca Morgan was sentenced to 15 years in prison;
• Lynette Sharp was sentenced to over 9 years (110 months) in prison;
• John Thomas was sentenced to over 9 years (110 months) in prison;
• Seth Sikes was sentenced to 6 years in prison; and
• Nathan Baumann was sentenced to 22 months in prison.

To date, 15 Prairieland terrorists have received a combined sentence of over 556 years in prison.

"The attack on the Prairieland Detention Center, almost a year ago to the day, was not only a vicious attack on a building but also an attack on the men and women from our North Texas communities who work there. The sentences imposed to date for the 15 Antifa cell members were just and deserved," said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas. "I continue to praise the prompt action of first responders and our law enforcement partners that night, along with the tireless work of the prosecutors in my office who made sure that the Prairieland terrorists were held accountable. Terrorist acts committed by any individual will not be tolerated. We will continue to hold others accountable who perpetrate such violence and fund these ANTIFA groups in the Northern District of Texas."

"The sentences imposed on these defendants emphasize the seriousness of the violent acts committed against our law enforcement partners," said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. "We would like to thank all the law enforcement agencies that contributed to the outcome of this investigation. Our collective goal remains safeguarding the security of our communities in North Texas."

"The violent extremists who launched the cowardly, ambush attack on the Prairieland Detention Center nearly one year ago did so in a feeble attempt to inspire chaos and anarchy in our communities, and to undermine the rule of law," said Homeland Security Investigations Dallas Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard. "Instead, the law enforcement community banded together in the aftermath of the attack to conduct a thorough, transparent criminal investigation to hold these domestic terrorists accountable for their actions and to show the American people that the pillars of justice on which our system of government was founded on 250 years ago still stand strong."

The sentences follow guilty pleas and a 12-day trial that began on Feb. 23, 2026, where jurors heard testimony from 46 witnesses, including cooperating defendants Sikes, Thomas, Baumann, and Sharp. The last trial defendant, Ines Soto, was the cell head of ANTIFA DFW, which operated under the front: "Emma Goldman Book Club".

Testimony and other evidence at trial established that 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. An expert testifying in the government's case told the jury that ANTIFA's coordinated efforts involve obstructing Federal law through organized riots, violent assaults, and armed confrontations with law enforcement officers, increasingly targeting agents and facilities related to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement in opposition to the agency's deportation actions.

Evidence at trial revealed that most of the ANTIFA Cell involved in the Prairieland attack looked to Benjamin Song as a leader. 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. For example, defendants Ines Soto, Elizabeth Soto, and Savanna Batten were part of a group that created and distributed insurrectionary materials called "zines," according to trial evidence.

Trial testimony reflected that, late at night on July 4, 2025, at least eleven of the defendants rioted and attacked the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was using to house illegal aliens awaiting deportation. The defendants dressed in "black bloc"-dark clothing with head and face coverings that concealed their identities-designed to hide each individual's identity but also to aid and abet those members engaged in illegal acts by making members indistinguishable from one another to law enforcement. Evidence introduced at trial revealed that the defendants brought eleven firearms, body armor, and eleven military-grade first aid kits with tourniquets and other items to treat gunshot wounds to the scene of the attack. Many of these items were introduced by the government as exhibits. Additionally, DNA and fingerprint evidence linked many of the defendants to the items at the scene, and evidence obtained on phone locations supported that those who participated in the attack all turned off their phones or placed them in Faraday bags to prevent tracking on the night of the attack.

After ANTIFA Cell members arrived at the detention facility, they began shooting off and throwing fireworks (explosives) at the facility and vandalizing vehicles and a guard shack on Prairieland property:

Witnesses testified that an Alvarado police officer responded to the scene after correctional officers called 911. When the officer began issuing commands to defendant Nathan Baumann, Benjamin Song can be heard on police bodycam video yelling, "get to the rifles!" and then he opened fire on the officers, striking the Alvarado police officer in the neck as the unarmed correctional officers ducked and ran for cover. Police arrested most of the Antifa Cell shortly after the attack, many near the scene. Benjamin Song escaped and remained at large with the help of others until his capture on July 15, 2025.

Trial evidence demonstrated that collectively, this ANTIFA Cell acquired over 50 firearms in the Fort Worth/Dallas area prior to July 4. During trial, the government introduced numerous chats of the members, who used an encrypted messaging app to coordinate with each other that had auto-delete functions, permanently deleting some Antifa Cell members' communications. They also used monikers in group chats to hide their identities, and some of the planning chats included only trusted participants. The chats introduced at trial revealed that members in this limited group conducted reconnaissance and discussed what to bring to the riot, including firearms, medical kits, and fireworks:

Witnesses who testified during the government's case included the Alvarado police officer who was shot in the neck by Song, detention officers present that night who also took cover from rapid fire, multiple additional responding officers, numerous investigative agents, and cooperating codefendants, including Sikes, Baumann, Sharp, Thomas, and Kent. Among other things, Kent testified that the night before the attack at a "gear check," Song proposed to free the detainees at the Prairieland detention facility and told the group that they should wear "black bloc" and bring rifles, because he (Song) wasn't going to be arrested. Evidence at trial also revealed that some of the defendants attended a peaceful daytime protest at Prairieland on July 4-without the gear they brought that night-and that they reported back to other defendants details regarding security at the facility:

Ines Soto was sentenced for the following offenses:

• Riot, 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.
• Providing Material Support to Terrorists, including property, services, training, communications equipment, weapons, explosives, personnel (including themselves), and transportation.
• Conspiracy to Use and Carry an Explosive, and Using and Carrying an Explosive, during a riot.

Defendants Sikes, Baumann, Sharp, and Thomas were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark T. Pittman for the Northern District of Texas. When imposing the sentences, Judge Pittman said, "It's fine to disagree with the government and we have an absolute right to protest, but not to put people in danger. If this is what is considered a peaceful protest, then I'd hate to see what they'd consider to be not peaceful. And what is so unique about the Prairieland Detention Center is that it is in the middle of a neighborhood with families and children. This could have been an absolute slaughter had not the officer's miracle bullet jammed Song's rifle."

Defendants Ines Soto, Gibson, and Morgan were sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Reed O' Connor for the Northern District of Texas. When imposing the sentences, Chief Judge O' Connor said, "The defendants' violence and terrorism is an assault on Democracy. The defendants' planning, staging, and execution of the attack led to the attempted murder of an officer who ironically is not even involved in enforcing immigration law."

The sole count of providing material support to terrorists brought in the information against Baumann, Gibson, Kent, Morgan, Sharp, Thomas, and separately, Sikes's information, mirrors the material support offense in the charges presented to the jury at trial.

The final defendant, Susan Kent, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 6, 2026.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI Dallas Field Office, Homeland Security Investigations Dallas, ATF, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Alvarado Police Department, and the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Office (ICE ERO).

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank Gatto, Shawn Smith, and Matt Capoccia for the Northern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.