FORT WORTH, Tx. - A federal jury in Fort Worth convicted all nine defendants in the Prairieland detention center protest case on March 13th, finding them guilty of riot, material support of terrorism, and explosives charges after a 14-day trial. Defendants now face sentences ranging from decades in prison to potential life imprisonment, with sentencing scheduled for June 18th before U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman. Defense attorneys for all nine filed motions for acquittal or new trial on March 27, raising allegations of juror coercion during deliberations, Brady violations by the prosecution, and insufficient evidence. The government filed its consolidated opposition on April 1st, calling the motions an attempt to make the court act as “the thirteenth juror.” The Verdict The jury convicted Cameron Arnold, Zachary Evetts, Benjamin Hanil Song, Savanna Batten, Bradford Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada on Count One (riot), Count Two (material support of terrorism), Count Three (conspiracy to use and carry an explosive), and Count Four (use and carry an explosive). Song was found guilty on additional counts that other defendants were acquitted of: attempted murder of a federal officer (Count Seven), and three counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence (Counts Eight through Ten). Rueda and Sanchez Estrada were convicted on Count Twelve, conspiracy to conceal documents. Sanchez Estrada alone was convicted on Count Eleven, corruptly concealing a document or record. Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda were acquitted on Counts Five and Six. Arnold, Evetts, Bradford Morris, and Maricela Rueda were acquitted on Count Nine. All defendants were remanded to custody following the verdict. How the Trial Went The case reached trial only after a false start. Judge Pittman declared a mistrial on February 17th, the first day of proceedings, due to jury-selection problems. A second jury was seated and trial began February 23rd. The courtroom dynamics were contentious from the outset. Before trial, Judge Pittman sanctioned three of Evetts’s defense attorneys — Patrick McLain, Bradley Sauer, and Brian Bouffard — $500 each for filing what the court characterized as repeated frivolous motions. Song’s attorney Phillip Hayes was ordered to read the Texas Lawyers Creed and certify compliance after arriving 90 minutes late to a mandatory status conference on January 14th. The government designated the case as complex under 18 U.S.C. § 3161 and invoked the Classified Information Procedures Act, indicating classified material was involved. Prosecutors called approximately 60 witnesses and introduced more than 200 exhibits over the course of the trial, including surveillance footage from the detention center, body-camera and dashcam footage from responding officers, DNA and fingerprint evidence, ATF firearms records, and cell-tower analysis. Two cooperating defendants — Seth Sikes and Nathan Baumann — testified for the government. Judge Pittman granted the government’s motion in limine on March 4th, barring all defendants from presenting self-defense claims. The court ruled the defendants were not free from fault in prompting any law enforcement response, though defense counsel could still introduce evidence to challenge the government’s affirmative case. A separate government motion to preclude defendants from presenting a “legally invalid defense” was also granted in part. The government’s own expert witness, Kyle Shideler of the Center for Security Policy, drew scrutiny from the bench. Judge Pittman questioned the necessity of extensive Antifa-related testimony given the specific charges at issue. Defense Motions Challenge the Verdict Juror misconduct. Batten’s attorney Christopher Tolbert alleged that a “loud and sustained disturbance emanating from the area of the jury room” was observed by multiple witnesses on the day the verdict was reached. Tolbert stated there is “reason to believe that jurors engaged in a heated confrontation inside the jury room and that certain jurors may have been subjected to intimidation or coercion during deliberations.” Rueda’s lawyers raised similar concerns, arguing the deliberative process was compromised. Brady violations. Song’s defense team mounted a two-pronged challenge. Attorney Phillip Hayes argued the evidence disproved intent to kill, writing that “Benjamin Song intentionally fired into the ground and not in the direction of any individual” and that investigators “failed to photograph, preserve, or test any of the evidence that these ground-strikes occurred.” Attorney Tailim Song filed a separate motion alleging prosecutors failed to timely disclose that Lt. Thomas Gross of the Alvarado Police Department was the first to draw a weapon at the scene, and that crime-scene investigators took no photographs of the alleged bullet strikes into the ground. The defense requested a “bad faith” evidentiary hearing. Explosives charges. Ines Soto’s lawyers argued the devices at issue were consumer-grade fireworks that caused no damage to the detention center and “were left in the field when the crime scene was released and were retrieved late the next day.” Document concealment. Sanchez Estrada’s attorneys argued the materials found in his home, vehicle, and a box he transported after Rueda’s arrest were First Amendment-protected political literature — including zines, pamphlets, and a squatting manual — and that “no link of the materials found in Mr. Sanchez’s home, vehicle, or box was ever established to any codefendant’s case.” Prosecutors countered that surveillance footage showed 13 individuals in black-bloc attire shooting fireworks at the facility, spray-painting its walls and employees’ vehicles, and damaging property. Cell-tower analysis showed defendants either powered off their phones or placed them in Faraday bags before arriving. Text messages from a July 4 group chat referenced pre-event scouting, including the timing of the facility’s gate and a neighboring home’s security cameras. Background The charges stem from a “noise demonstration” in solidarity with detainees at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on the evening of July 4, 2025. After participants arrived at the facility, an Alvarado Police Department officer, Lt. Thomas Gross, responded to a 911 call and was allegedly shot within seconds of arriving. Gross sustained injuries described as minor and was reportedly released from the hospital shortly afterward. Defense lawyers have noted that authorities have not provided hospital records to substantiate the injury claims. Ten people were arrested at the scene. Song was apprehended days later. In total, 19 people face related state and federal charges. Nine additional individuals accepted plea deals — the majority of whom did not attend the protest themselves. All plea deals were on material support of terrorism, a post-9/11 charge that defense supporters characterize as being used almost exclusively against militant Islamist groups before this case. Sanchez Estrada, a lawful permanent resident and former DACA recipient, was not present at the protest. Prosecutors allege he removed a box of political literature from his home after Rueda, his wife, called to say she had been arrested. An FBI surveillance team followed him as he transported the box to another location. He was offered two plea deals, both requiring him to surrender his green card and accept deportation to Mexico, a country he left at age 14. He rejected both and went to trial. The Trump administration has framed the prosecution as the first case brought against Antifa following its designation as a domestic terrorist organization. “At President Trump’s direction, we are prosecuting Antifa like we prosecute groups such as Tren de Aragua and MS-13,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. All nine defendants remain in custody and face separate state-level charges with bonds as high as $15 million. Judge Pittman is expected to rule on the post-verdict motions before sentencing on June 18th.