Protesters have been sentenced to decades in prison in the US for collaborating with antifa Court Affairs

A former US Navy SEAL has been sentenced to years in prison along with seven others for a shooting that injured a police officer last year during a protest at a Texas immigration detention center.

On Tuesday, Benjamin Song, a Marine security guard, was sentenced to 100 years in prison, the maximum penalty, for opening fire at a July 4 demonstration outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas.

Recommended Articles

list of things 3end of series

Seven other defendants received prison terms of 30 to 70 years.

Prosecutors called the crime “terrorism” and said the eight were affiliated with antifa, a nonpartisan group that President Donald Trump has designated a “domestic terrorist group.”

Meanwhile, the defense denied any antifa cooperation. The family members expressed frustration and anger at the harsh punishments.

Lydia Koza, whose wife, Autumn Hill, was sentenced to 50 years in prison. “The government wants to kill her for life because she protested. Nobody died.”

US District Judge Reed O’Connor, one of the two judges presiding over the cases, said the incident was not a protest but an “attack on democracy”. All but one of the eight musicians sentenced on Tuesday were found guilty of terrorism offences.

“The need to stop this type of behavior is high,” O’Connor said.

The case drew attention in the state of Texas, where critics warned that it could have a major impact on protest and the right to free speech under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

The Justice Department called it the first crackdown on “protesters associated with” antifa after Trump signed an executive order declaring it a “terrorist” group on September 22.

Protesters associate the opposition with antifa

Trump issued the order even though there are no domestic equivalents on the State Department’s list of “terrorist organizations.”

Antifa is not a single organization, but an umbrella group of left-wing, libertarian groups that fight or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacy in protests.

“The sentences handed down today show that antifa terrorists who attack government and public institutions will face swift and unyielding justice,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that the group’s actions — including bringing firearms, first-aid kits and wearing body armor — were signs of malicious intent.

According to the Department of Justice, Song shouted, “Go to the gun”, and opened fire, striking a police officer who had just arrived.

Lawyers for the defendants said there was no plan to hide and the protesters who brought guns were only doing so in self-defense.

He said the rally was planned as a midnight demonstration with fireworks to show support for refugees taking place in Prairieland before the gunfire.

Some critics say they were not part of the plan

Phillip Hayes, Mr Song’s lawyer, rejected claims the protesters were “extremists” and said his client would appeal the 100-year sentence.

“This is a group of kids and adults who have a really big heart and really want their voice to be heard,” Hayes said. “It was not the intention for anyone to get hurt.

Prosecutor Frank Gatto urged the judge to impose stiffer sentences.

“People with such extreme beliefs deserve more time in prison,” Gatto said. “They believe that violence is justified.”

The accused and their relatives pleaded for forgiveness.

Autumn Hill said the meeting “looked more like a party to me than anything else” and that she and others who took part “did not expect or want any violence or property damage”.

Hill’s attorney, Cody Cofer, told the judge that there was no evidence that he had a gun, and that he believed in violence to change. He also said that when the firecrackers were set off, he was very careful that he made sure to pick up the trash he left behind before leaving.

Chris Tolbert, Savanna Batten’s defense attorney, said his client did not bring a gun, spray paint or fireworks to the scene, and was not involved in organizing the protest.

Hill and Batten both served 50 years in prison.

Another defendant, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was not in Prairieland the night of the shooting or involved in the plot, said his attorney, Christopher Weinbel.

Sanchez Estrada, who is married to one of the defendants, was found guilty of concealing documents.

Weinbel said his client only moved a box of his artwork, poetry, journals and exhibits after the shooting. Nothing in the box was illegal, Weinbel said.

Sanchez Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Some prosecutors have previously admitted that they gave aid to “terrorists” rather than taking their case.

Last week, federal prosecutors indicted 15 people for obstructing the Trump administration’s crackdown in Minnesota.

He said the protesters were members of antifa, who had conspired against the federal government to prevent arrests and deportations by barricading government buildings and throwing ice water at government vehicles, among other things.