Nine people have pleaded not guilty and a federal judge set a January trial date Wednesday for the defendants charged in the Fourth of July shooting at an ICE detention center.
Benjamin Song, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda and Savanna Batten entered their pleas in a brief hearing in Fort Worth federal court Wednesday. Autumn Hill, Zachary Evetts, Ines Soto, Elizabeth Soto and Daniel Sanchez Estrada pleaded not guilty in the weeks prior and waived their arraignments.
All will go to trial in Fort Worth Jan. 5. Their charges range in severity based on their alleged roles leading up to the night an Alvarado police officer was nonfatally shot outside the Prairieland Detention Center.
It comes after seven defendants also arrested in connection with the shooting pleaded guilty last month to lesser charges after making deals with the government. They'll be sentenced in March.
Diana Rueda told KERA News her sister Maricela Rueda had that option, but chose to maintain her innocence instead.
"Her only fault was being there that night," Diana Rueda said. "But she's innocent of all the charges. And I think that what the state is doing is very unfair."
Attorneys for Song, Evetts and Batten declined to comment. KERA News reached out to attorneys for other defendants facing trial and will update this story with any responses.
The U.S. Attorney's Office called the indictment against the nine defendants the first in the country against a group of "violent Antifa cell members," a label that's held extra weight since President Donald Trump designated the "antifa" ideology a domestic terror threat in September.
According to the indictment, Song was the leader of the so-called "North Texas Antifa Cell" that planned the night of the shooting both in the encrypted messaging app Signal and in face-to-face meetings.
Defendants, their attorneys and supporters, however, say they were protesting Trump's immigration policies when they gathered outside the detention center, and that not everyone intended for a shooting to occur.
“As the Prairieland case progresses, it looks more and more like a protest case involving people expressing solidarity with detained immigrants,” Amber Lowrey, Batten's sister, said in a statement. “The federal government is trying to reframe protest activity as terrorism, and we’re seeing this attempted across the country, from Chicago to Portland, and now here in Dallas-Fort Worth.”
Hill, Evetts, Song, Batten, Morris, Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto are charged with rioting, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive and use and carry of an explosive — the explosive being fireworks, according to the indictment.
Song is charged with attempted murder of officers and employees of the United States and discharging a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of a crime of violence. Hill, Evetts, Morris and Rueda are charged with aiding and abetting.
Rueda and Sanchez Estrada are charged with conspiracy to conceal documents. Rueda allegedly called Sanchez Estrada from jail and asked him to conceal incriminating evidence, specifically a box of “antifa materials," according to court records.
Estrada is charged with corruptly concealing a document or records for allegedly taking this box from his home in Garland to a location in Denton.
If convicted, Song, Arnold, Evetts, Morris, and Rueda could face anywhere from 10 years to life in prison. Batten, Elizabeth Soto and Ines Soto face 10-50 years in federal prison. Sanchez Estrada faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count.
Eighteen total defendants in the case face a mix of state and federal charges.
Toluwani Osibamowo is KERA’s law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org.
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