(ALVARADO, TEXAS) — Federal prosecutors opened a joint trial in Fort Worth this week of nine people accused of ties to a “North Texas Antifa cell” in a shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center that wounded an Alvarado police lieutenant and triggered charges that include attempted murder and providing material support to terrorists.
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman presided as the case moved into jury selection, the swearing-in of jurors and opening statements, a start that followed an unusual disruption during the court’s initial effort to seat a panel.
Pittman declared a mistrial during the earlier jury-selection proceedings after defense attorney MarQuetta Clayton appeared wearing a shirt displaying civil rights protest imagery that the judge ruled violated a court dress code order.
The Justice Department alleges the group used encrypted messaging to coordinate an attack on an ICE-linked detention facility, portraying the incident as coordinated violence rather than protest activity.
Prosecutors allege defendants used fireworks as distractions, vandalized property and fired at responding officers during the confrontation outside the facility in Alvarado, in North Texas.
Authorities say Alvarado Police Lieutenant Thomas Cross was shot in the shoulder and neck and survived. Cross took the witness stand first in the government’s presentation, testifying about his injury as prosecutors began building a timeline of the response and the sequence of events.
The charges at stake include attempted murder and providing material support to terrorists, with some defendants facing up to life in prison. Officials have described the case as the first federal domestic terrorism prosecution tied to antifa, which President Donald Trump labeled a terror threat in 2025.
Prosecutors told jurors they plan to use closed-circuit footage, DNA, fingerprints and guns they say are linked to defendants, along with body armor and ammunition, to connect individuals to actions at the scene.
The government also pointed to what it described as “insurrectionist materials,” including flyers reading “fight ICE terror with class war” and “organizing for attack, insurrection, anarchy,” as evidence of intent and planning.
Pittman’s courtroom also turned to the challenge of selecting jurors for a case that prosecutors say sits at the intersection of politically charged activism and federal criminal allegations. The judge questioned prospective jurors on biases that included antifa views, protests, guns at rallies and transgender issues.
Nine defendants face trial together, a structure that requires jurors to weigh alleged roles separately while hearing the government’s claim of a coordinated plan. Prosecutors used opening statements to argue that the evidence will show participants acting as an antifa “affinity group” with different tasks.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith outlined the government’s theory and told jurors they would hear evidence supporting that structure as the case unfolds.
Among those on trial is Benjamin Song, 32, a former Marine Corps reservist whom prosecutors describe as the ringleader and shooter. Prosecutors allege Song shouted “‘Get to the rifles’” during the incident.
Phillip Hayes, Song’s attorney, reserved an opening statement, according to the account in court.
Prosecutors also accuse Meagan Morris, 41, and Autumn Hill, 30, of hosting a planning “gear check” at their home, an allegation central to the government’s effort to show preparation and coordination beyond a spontaneous demonstration.
Another defendant, Zachary Evetts, 36, is accused of spray-painting vehicles and a guard structure, prosecutors say, as part of the alleged vandalism at the detention site.
Savanna Batten’s lawyer, Christopher Tolbert, pushed back on the government’s portrayal of her conduct, arguing she brought no weapons or destructive items and only expressed political beliefs.
Five other defendants were not named in the account of the proceedings. The case has drawn added attention because several defendants are transgender and because prosecutors tied the alleged planning and organization to a broader political label.
Outside the courthouse, protestors demanded fair process, and some criticized Pittman, reflecting a broader argument around whether the episode should be treated as protest or as criminal violence.
Defendants and supporters have described the episode as a noise demonstration in support of detainees and said it is protected as political expression, a framing that sits in tension with the government’s account of gunfire at law enforcement.
Song, speaking to KERA News from jail, called the case “ridiculous” and overreach.
The trial’s evidentiary scope is expected to be heavy. Prosecutors anticipate presenting over 200 pieces of evidence, a volume that court watchers say can slow proceedings even as it gives jurors a dense record to parse.
Former prosecutor Richard Schechter, commenting on the structure of the proceeding, noted pros and cons of trying defendants together, with the potential for efficiency but also the complexity of keeping alleged roles distinct for jurors.
Pittman told the court he expects the trial to conclude in mid-March, setting an aggressive pace as lawyers argue over what evidence jurors can see and how the government can link physical items, digital communications and witness accounts.
The case sits within a larger enforcement picture that federal authorities say spans more than the nine people now on trial. Prosecutors and defense lawyers have pointed to a series of arrests and plea deals that shape what jurors may hear and how witnesses may testify.
Authorities arrested 19 people in total in connection with the episode, according to the case overview, with this trial representing the portion that prosecutors are pressing forward jointly in federal court.
Seven federal defendants pleaded guilty late last year and are awaiting sentencing next month, narrowing the federal trial group while raising the possibility that jurors will hear testimony from cooperating witnesses.
Three people face state charges only, a separate track that defense lawyers say underscores the differences in how prosecutors and jurisdictions assessed evidence and conduct.
Prosecutors expect cooperating witnesses including Nathan Baumann, Lynette Sharp, John Thomas and Susan Kent to testify that Song confessed to the shooting, a claim likely to trigger pointed cross-examination over credibility, motives and corroboration.
The government’s narrative depends on tying together multiple forms of proof: what jurors see on surveillance footage, what forensic testing suggests about who handled items, and how witnesses describe planning and decision-making.
Defense lawyers, for their part, have signaled they will challenge the intent prosecutors ascribe to the group’s actions and contest the idea that political protest activity equates to a plan to harm officers.
George Lobb, representing state co-defendant Maricela Rueda, said jurors may defer more to judge-led questioning, a dynamic that can shape how quickly panels settle on impressions of disputed facts and how they react to lawyers’ arguments.
The first day’s testimony from Cross placed the injury at the center of the case early, as prosecutors seek to show the encounter with law enforcement was not incidental but a foreseeable part of what they allege was an organized effort to target the facility.
If jurors accept that framing, the attempted murder count and the allegation of providing material support to terrorists become the legal core of a case that prosecutors say carries unusually high stakes for domestic extremism enforcement.
If jurors reject it, defense lawyers argue, the episode belongs in the realm of protest activity, even if it included conduct like vandalism that could carry its own penalties.
For now, the judge’s management of the trial, the expected flow of physical exhibits and the credibility of cooperating testimony stand to shape the proceedings as Fort Worth jurors weigh what happened outside an ICE-linked detention center and who, prosecutors say, bore responsibility for the gunfire that wounded a police lieutenant.
North Texas Antifa Cell Faces Trial in Prairieland Detention Center Shooting
Federal prosecutors in Fort Worth are trying nine defendants accused of a coordinated attack on an ICE-linked detention center in Alvarado. The case involving an alleged Antifa cell follows a shooting that wounded a police lieutenant. Defendants face charges of attempted murder and domestic terrorism. The trial examines the line between political protest and criminal violence, utilizing evidence of encrypted communications and forensic data to prove intent.
