First Antifa Terrorism Convictions in U.S. History: Five Plead Guilty in Texas ICE Facility Ambush
The convictions, detailed in stipulated facts, affirm Antifa's status as a designated domestic terrorist organization, countering longstanding denials from left-leaning groups that it represents mere activism rather than organized violence.
Five members of a North Texas Antifa cell became the first individuals in U.S. history convicted on federal terrorism charges after pleading guilty on November 19, 2025, to providing material support to terrorists for their roles in a July 4 ambush on the Prairieland Detention Center, an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas. Nathan Baumann, Joy Gibson, Seth Sikes, Lynette Sharp, and John Thomas each entered pleas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cureton in Fort Worth, admitting to a coordinated attack that wounded an Alvarado police officer in the neck and fired upon federal agents. Under the plea agreements, they face up to 15 years in prison—capped below the potential life sentences for attempted murder—with sentencing set for March 12, 2026. The convictions, detailed in stipulated facts, affirm Antifa's status as a designated domestic terrorist organization, countering longstanding denials from left-leaning groups that it represents mere activism rather than organized violence.
The attack unfolded on July 4, 2025, when 18 suspects, dressed in black bloc attire and armed with rifles, handguns, fireworks, and improvised explosives, launched a 40-minute assault on the facility housing 1,500 detainees. Surveillance footage and court records show the group, led by suspected ringleader Benjamin Hanil Song—a former U.S. Marine Corps reservist—fired over 50 rounds from woods 200 meters away, including 20-30 shots from an AR-15 aimed at responding officers. Song, positioned as a sniper, wounded the police officer aiding federal agents and attempted to provide cover fire for co-conspirators to breach the perimeter. The assailants deployed exploding fireworks as diversions, spray-painted "ICE pig" and "traitor" on vehicles and structures, and left flyers reading "Fight ICE terror with class war" alongside a flag declaring "Resist fascism, fight oligarchy." Authorities recovered 12 sets of body armor, ammunition magazines, and firearms from abandoned vehicles, with graffiti and incendiary devices indicating intent to destroy the facility and free detainees.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas described the plot as the work of a "North Texas Antifa Cell," part of a larger militant network adhering to "revolutionary anarchist or autonomous Marxist ideology" that explicitly calls for overthrowing the U.S. government and targeting law enforcement. The stipulated facts, agreed to by the defendants, detail recruitment via online forums, training in combat tactics by Song—who purchased four rifles used in the attack—and coordination with ideologically aligned groups. Baumann, Gibson, and Sikes admitted knowing the operation aimed to "obstruct enforcement of Federal laws through armed standoffs," aligning directly with President Trump's September 2025 executive order designating Antifa a domestic terrorist entity for "coordinated efforts to obstruct enforcement of Federal laws... through armed standoffs with law enforcement, organized riots, violent assaults on... Immigration and Customs Enforcement... and routine doxing of... political figures."
The plea deals cap sentences at 15 years, avoiding trials that could have exposed broader Antifa networks, but the convictions validate the terrorist label by invoking 18 U.S.C. § 2339A for material support to a designated group. Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson stated, "This is the first indictment in the country against a group of violent Antifa cell members," emphasizing the attack's aim to "decapitate" federal operations. The defendants appeared in shackles; two cited depression, one bipolar disorder, and two ADHD, but the judge deemed them competent.
Nine additional suspects—Cameron Arnold, Zachary Evetts, Song, Savanna Batten, Bradford Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada—were indicted on November 14, facing 12 counts including attempted murder of federal officers, discharge of firearms during violent crimes, rioting, and explosives use. Seven others, including Rebecca Morgan, face charges by information. Song, the FBI's most-wanted fugitive for 11 days post-attack, allegedly fired to aid escapes and received aid from Sharp, who hid him in woods. The cell's ties to the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, a disbanded armed leftist group, underscore Antifa's decentralized but violent structure.
President Trump's order, issued weeks after Charlie Kirk's September 10 assassination at a Utah campus event, empowers federal prosecution under terrorism statutes, resulting in over 20 Antifa-related arrests nationwide since October. The pleas, secured after Song's recruitment from ideologically aligned forums, affirm the designation's necessity, as the cell explicitly sought to "overthrow the United States Government" per court documents. FBI Director Kash Patel called it a "turning point," noting Antifa's use of "illegal means to organize and execute a campaign of violence and terrorism." Sentencing in March will finalize the landmark case, reinforcing accountability for domestic threats.
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