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US prosecutors say those protesting the Prairieland Detention Center are linked to antifa.
Seven other people have been sentenced to prison in connection with protests that led to the shooting of a police officer outside an immigration detention center last year.
A judge in Fort Worth will hand down the final verdicts on Wednesday. Critics, however, say the case could reshape the way protests are prosecuted in the United States.
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The case centers on a shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center, near Dallas, Texas, which took place during an anti-government protest.
The six defendants charged on Wednesday pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting “terrorism” and received prison terms ranging from two to 15 years.
A seventh defendant, Ines Soto, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being found guilty of “providing material support to terrorists”, as well as charges related to rioting and plotting to carry a bomb.
The demonstration in question took place on the night of July 4, 2025. Protesters gathered outside Prairieland to protest President Donald Trump’s proposed deportation order. Others light fireworks. Others have been charged with vandalism.
Prosecutors say that during the demonstration, former US military commander Benjamin Song shot and wounded a police officer who had just arrived at the scene. Song allegedly shouted, “Put the gun away,” before opening it.
The Trump administration has described the protests as “terrorist”, and 19 people have been arrested.
Some of those arrested were not present at the Prairieland protests. But the Trump administration has singled out antifa — a dissident, left-wing group — as “a domestic terrorist group”, and accused the protesters of being part of an “antifa cell”.
Critics of the United States Department of Justice have argued that bringing firearms, first aid kits and weapons to these demonstrations shows malicious intent.
“The sentences handed down today make it clear that Antifa terrorists who attack government and public institutions will face swift and unyielding justice,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement last week.
But human rights activists say the case could have far-reaching implications for protesters across the country.
It will also test the limits of free speech rights protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
The Justice Department issued the preliminary indictment last week as the first time the defendants have been convicted of crimes since Trump issued an executive order labeling the group “domestic terrorists.”
Lawyers for the defendants strongly denied any antifa links and denied the prosecution’s claims.
They said there was no cover-up planned and that the gunmen were only acting in self-defense, as guaranteed by the second amendment to the Constitution. The fireworks, he added, were intended as a show of support for the refugees who had been detained inside Prairieland.
On June 23, the eight defendants who chose to stand trial were handed over long prison terms.
Song was sentenced to 100 years in prison after being found guilty of attempted murder. The other seven received sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years. They received a combined 450 years in prison.
One defendant, Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada, said his only crime was moving a box of goods, including zines. Meanwhile, prosecutors characterized his actions as “carrying a box full of Antifa weapons” and attempting to cover it up.
Most of the accused, including Song and Sanchez Estrada, have filed notices of appeal.
In handing down the verdicts last week, US District Judge Reed O’Connor said what happened was not a protest but an “attack on democracy” and that “the need to stop this kind of behavior is overwhelming”.
