Federal prosecutors begin trial in Prairieland Detention Center shooting case
Federal prosecutors opened a trial in Texas on Tuesday, telling jurors that a shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas last July was carried out by members of antifa. Prosecutors said nine people charged in connection with the attack pleaded not guilty.
The government’s case, presented at the start of the proceedings, centers on what prosecutors described as an assault during and around a July 4 demonstration near the facility, in which a police officer was shot in the neck and wounded, according to testimony and the allegations outlined in the case.
Prosecutors said eight of the nine defendants face charges of providing material support to terrorists, a set of allegations tied to President Donald Trump’s order designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, and multiple defendants face additional charges including attempted murder of a law officer. Lawyers for the accused said prosecutors are trying to wrongly punish political demonstrators and that the defendants were not members of antifa.
Defense lawyers described the event as a “noise demonstration” that they said included fireworks on July 4, 2025, meant to show support for immigrants held inside the detention center. Lawyers also argued that the charges should be judged separately for each defendant’s own actions, calling attention to what they said would be a “trial within a trial.”
“At this point the scene is becoming extremely chaotic,” Dallas-area law enforcement witness Lt. Thomas Gross told jurors during Tuesday’s testimony. Gross said he was responding at about 11 p.m. to a call from the detention center when he noticed graffiti on a guard shed and a stop sign and when he saw a guard chasing a person clad in black with their face covered.
Gross testified that after he got out of his vehicle, he saw another person also clad in black with their face covered and carrying a rifle. He told jurors he was shot with a round that went into his shoulder and out of his neck, describing the injury as the incident unfolded while officers responded.
Prosecutors, in their opening statements, said the indictment describes people clad in black and wearing masks who carried firearms and wore body armor and who shot fireworks toward the center and vandalized vehicles and a guard shed. The government said that after local officers responded, one person yelled “get to the rifles” and opened fire, striking the officer.
Prosecutor Shawn Smith told the jury, “Make no mistake, there’s nothing peaceful about what happened on July Fourth.” Smith also said in opening statements that defendant Benjamin Song was the person who opened fire, while other defendants are also charged with attempted murder and discharging a firearm because prosecutors argued the outcome was foreseeable based on the group’s planning. Song’s attorney did not give an opening statement Tuesday.
Defense attorney Chris Tolbert, representing Savanna Batten, said her defense should focus on her individual conduct. Tolbert told jurors that Batten did not bring a firearm, spray paint or fireworks to the center and said that while prosecutors claim Batten’s book club—named for anarchist Emma Goldman—serves as an antifa recruiting ground, it is instead “just a book club.”
Tolbert said, “She’s not a member of antifa, she’s not providing material support to terrorists.” Attorney James Luster, representing Autumn Hill, argued that Hill’s motivations were tied to her beliefs about marginalized people, including immigrants, and said that after watching fireworks being shot into the sky, Hill left before police arrived. Luster told jurors, “It was never supposed to come to this.”
The trial is expected to last upward of three weeks, and prosecutors said several of the defendants could face life in prison if convicted. The case also includes a reference to prior pleas: prosecutors said several people have already pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists after being accused of supporting antifa related to the July 4 shooting, with sentencing exposure described as up to 15 years for those pleas.