Anti-ICE protesters convicted on terrorism charges are sentenced to a combined 450 years

What happened

Benjamin Song, who fired at a police officer, was sentenced to 100 years; Maricela Rueda was sentenced to 70 years; Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Savanna Batten, Elizabeth Soto and Meagan Morris were sentenced to 50 years; and Daniel Sanchez-Estrada, who was not at the protest, was sentenced to 30 years for corruptly concealing a document or record. Prosecutors said the activists were part of a 'North Texas antifa cell'. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that the sentences make clear that 'Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice'. The Justice Department's release names nine defendants convicted at trial and gives two of them under different names from the Guardian's, Cameron Arnold, also known as Autumn Hill, and Bradford Morris, also known as Meagan Morris; it records that Ines Soto was granted a continuance and would be sentenced on 1 July, and puts the eight sentences imposed that day at a combined 450 years.

Why it matters

Prosecutors used the zines a leftwing book club read as evidence of the conspiracy that linked the demonstrators, and the one defendant who was not at the protest was convicted for moving such materials at his wife's request; the resulting sentences exceed the longest terms handed down for the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Barbara McQuade, a former US attorney, said she would have expected sentences in the ballpark of 15 to 25 years, but nothing like 50 to 100 years.

Receipt details

• Phase 2
• Turn law enforcement inward
• Create new extremist classifications