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Prairieland Nine: Texas ICE Protesters Get Up to 100 Years in Prison as Trump Targets Anti-Fascists

2026-06-25 News & Politics
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Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt A group of anti-ICE protesters in Texas were sentenced to 30 to 100 years in jail on Tuesday, after federal prosecutors accused them of being an "antifa terror cell." The activists attended a protest outside the Prairieland ICE jail in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4 of last year, during which fireworks were set off and a police officer was shot and wounded. All nine defendants were found guilty after being tried before a federal judge in Texas. Matt Sledge, political reporter for The Intercept, warns that "we just have to watch for this playbook to be applied elsewhere." "Now anyone engaged in basic protests with the wrong political beliefs can be labeled a domestic terrorist, when they have no intention of violence, not engaged in any violence, not interested in any violence," says Sufia Khalid, deputy director of the National Security Criminal Defense Center, who represents one of the Prairieland defendants. Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe

Top Comments (10)

@Wendy2448 2026-06-25

So Jan 6 defendants beat police and they get pardoned. Protesters with clean records get 100 years? Insane

1.0k 369 replies
@loisk6186 2026-06-25

These sentences are higher than 1st degree murderers or rapists get. It's insane.

728 115 replies
@warrinbang1191 2026-06-25

Those excessive sentences are actually an act of terror for the purpose is to instill fear into anyone who would dare to oppose their policies.

470 54 replies
@someguy2501 2026-06-25

"They scuffed our jackboots with their bones as we stepped on them"

398 28 replies
@JJ-kl5yj 2026-06-25

The real terrorism happening here is against citizens and their rights. These ridiculous charges and excessive sentences are to dissuade citizens from dissent against a fascist government.

348 62 replies
@lbr88x30 2026-06-25

Compliance will not save anyone.

318 66 replies
@Webstractions 2026-06-25

Where is the justice here? Paxton can commute a sex offender's sentence to one day served and not have him register as a sex offender, but these people get 30, 50, 100 years. J6 rioters did more than these people did and the most any one of them got was 22 years, then they all get full pardons and they want to even pay them for their lawlessness. These cases will be appealed. Maybe they can get the sentences reduced in a higher court or even overturned. It's for sure that Trump won't pardon them unless they have a million dollars under their bed mattress to bribe him with.

227 32 replies
@JokersRevenge48 2026-06-26

It's not illegal to protest. It is illegal to storm the Capitol. America has turned upside down

159 24 replies
@Grumpy-v6k 2026-06-26

Those who sh*t on our floors and beat police get government checks. These guys get thirty years for horseshit.

133 7 replies
@madboyreadynow28 2026-06-26

Protesting is a constitutional first amendment right? These judges are in violation of the constitution and should all be impeached and removed from the bench. All these people who have been wrongly prosecuted should be pardon as political prosecution. Yes all these judges who openly defy our constitution need to be removed from the bench. ALL of them.

17 1 replies

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