Antifa cell leader Benjamin Song was sentenced to 100 years in prison Tuesday for a 2025 terrorist attack on an immigration facility.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sentenced Song and seven others involved in the July 4, 2o25, attack on a Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility Tuesday, according to multiple reports. These charges stemmed from the first U.S. terrorism case against accused Antifa members — after President Donald Trump had labeled the far-left group a domestic terrorist organization in September 2025.
In March, a jury convicted the group of eight for its role in the attack and convicted Song of attempted murder after a 12-day trial. The other seven people convicted in the trial besides Song face prison sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years, according to CBS News.
The Independence Day attack took place late at night when Song, a former Marine Corps Reservist, and his accomplices arrived dressed in all black, according to a March press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. Some members of the group also attended a peaceful protest against the ICE detention center without their gear earlier that day before arriving again with the gear at night.
The Antifa cell brought 11 firearms and body armor with them to protest the center, according to the press release. The group shot fireworks at the facility and vandalized cars and a guard shack.
A police officer who responded to the scene began giving commands to an Antifa cell member when Song yelled, “get to the rifles!” which the release noted was heard on a police bodycam. Song then opened fire, shooting the police officer in the neck while unarmed correctional officers “ducked and ran for cover.”
The nine defendants who went to trial over the demonstration racked up 65 charges between them, according to CBS News. The charges include attempted murder, aiding terrorists and weapons charges. One defendant, Ines Soto, is awaiting sentencing set on July 1.
Song, who was previously on Texas’ “Most Wanted Fugitive” list, hid in a forest after the violent protest, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported in February. While most of the other Antifa cell members were arrested that night, Song hid for 11 days. He was finally found in a supporter’s apartment in Dallas on July 15.
The defense argued that the group did not plan for violence that night, and that Antifa is an ideology, not an organization, according to past DCNF reporting.
Earlier this year, leftist groups condemned the convictions and came together to raise money and support for the Antifa members convicted for the July 4 attack.
(DCNF)
