Under Trump’s presidential memorandum NSPM-7, designating “antifa” as a domestic terrorist threat, just brought about its first ominous convictions of eight anti-ICE protesters. This is a horrifying precedent accelerating the fascist attack on ALL dissent.
 BREAKING: Federal judges in Texas just sentenced eight alleged antifa activists to a combined 450 years in prison in a case involving a protest outside the Prairieland ICE detention center.Five of those sentenced received prison terms of 50 years. One defendant who wasn’t even present at the protest received a 30-year sentence for merely moving a box of antifascist zines. The longest sentence — a 100-year term — went to an activist accused of firing a gun at a police officer. |
From The Guardian
“The sentences handed down on Tuesday were unusually long, said Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor who served as the US attorney for the eastern district of Michigan during the Obama administration.
‘Most often, judges will sentence defendants for separate counts concurrently. Here, it appears that the judge stacked the sentences for each count consecutively. I would have expected lengthy sentences here, more in the ballpark at 15 to 25 years, but nothing like 50 to 100 years,’ she wrote in an email.
The Trump administration praised the sentences.
“The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said in a statement. “Their violent extremism has no place in our country, and the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively investigate, disrupt, and prosecute those who threaten law enforcement officers or undermine the rule of law.”
In a statement, Song said he had fired at the police officer, Lt Thomas Gross, because Gross had his weapon drawn and Song believed he was about to shoot a protester.
“I never want to see good people, standing for what they believe in, gunned down in the street,” he said. “Now 21 people have been arrested, have been persecuted, have been punished. For knowing me or being my friend? This is wrong. This is mass punishment. Collective punishment. This is guilt by association. This is injustice.”
Evetts, a mechanical engineer, said in court on Tuesday the intent of the fireworks was solely to get the attention of people held inside the detention center. He intends to appeal his conviction and sentence, said Patrick McLain, one of his lawyers.
“As the witnesses at the sentencing hearing stated, Zach has always been a caring and compassionate man; an accomplished mechanical engineer with no history of trouble with the law or violence. Quite the opposite, he has been a man of peace who has always stood up for those bullied or afflicted,” McLain said. “Zach continues to give compassionate help in the jail, as a detainee, and we expect that will continue until he is one day cleared of this wrongful conviction by appeal or pardon.”