{"id":47246,"date":"2026-03-18T12:10:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T19:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=47246"},"modified":"2026-03-18T12:10:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T19:10:02","slug":"serious-threat-to-the-first-amendment-as-trump-admin-wins-first-antifa-terror-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/serious-threat-to-the-first-amendment-as-trump-admin-wins-first-antifa-terror-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Serious threat to the First Amendment\u2019 as Trump admin wins first antifa terror charge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Signs<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Posted in Politics and Movements: US<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Serious threat to the First Amendment\u2019 as Trump admin wins first antifa terror charge<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA case like this helps the government kind of see how far they can go in criminalizing constitutionally protected protest,\u201d one legal advocate said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by\u00a0Olivia Rosane<\/a><\/strong> March 16, 2026 (therealnews.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs supporting protesters charged with domestic terrorism over an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest are seen outside the courtroom in Fort Worth, Texas on March 11, 2026. Photo via DFW Support Committee\/X<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get fearless, uncompromising truth in your inbox. Subscribe to The Real News.<\/strong>Sign up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Common<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on <\/em>Mar. 15, 2026<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has largely won its first case bringing material-support-for-terrorism charges against protesters alleged to belong to \u201cantifa,\u201d which President Donald Trump<\/a> designated<\/a> as a domestic terror group in 2025 despite the fact that no such organized group exists and the president has no legal authority to designate organizations as domestic terror groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A federal jury in Fort Worth, Texas<\/a> agreed on Friday to convict eight people of domestic terrorism because they wore all black to a protest<\/a> outside Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement\u2019s (ICE) Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas on July 4, 2025, at which one of the protesters shot and wounded a police officer. Legal experts say the verdict could bolster attempts by the administration to stifle dissent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA case like this helps the government kind of see how far they can go in criminalizing constitutionally protected protests<\/a> and also helps them kind of intimidate, increase the fear, hoping that folks in other cities then will think twice over protesting,\u201d Suzanne Adely, interim president of the National Lawyers Guild, told<\/a> The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration promised it would be the first such case of many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe US lost today with this verdict.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAntifa is a domestic terrorist organization that has been allowed to flourish in Democrat-led cities\u2014not under President Trump,\u201d Attorney General Pam Bondi<\/a> said<\/a> in a statement Friday. \u201cToday\u2019s verdict on terrorism charges will not be the last as the Trump administration<\/a> systematically dismantles Antifa and finally halts their violence on America\u2019s streets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial revolved around a nighttime protest at which participants planned to set off fireworks in solidarity<\/a> with the around 1,000 migrants<\/a> detained inside the Prarieland ICE facility. Some participants brought guns, which is legal in Texas, as The Intercept reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Levine explained<\/a> in The Guardian what happened next:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Shortly after arriving at the facility, two or three of the protesters broke away from the larger group and began spray painting cars in the parking lot, a guard shack, slashed the tires on a government van, and broke a security camera. Two ICE detention guards came out and told the protesters to stop. A police officer arrived on the scene shortly after and drew his weapon at one of the people allegedly doing vandalism. One of the protesters was standing in the woods with an AR-15 and hit him in the shoulder. The officer would survive.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

At first, the federal government charged those arrested after the event with \u201cattempted murder of a police officer,\u201d according to<\/a> NOTUS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, that changed after Trump\u2019s designation of antifa as a terror group in September and the release of National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), which directs<\/a> federal law enforcement to target left-leaning groups and activities. The next month, the government\u2019s case expanded to include terrorism charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis wouldn\u2019t be a terrorism case if it weren\u2019t for that memo,\u201d one defense lawyer told NOTUS on background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecution argued that the fact that the protesters wore black clothes to the protest was enough to convict them of material support for terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProviding your body as camouflage for others to do the enumerated acts is providing support,\u201d Assistant US Attorney Shawn Smith said during closing arguments, as The Intercept reported<\/a> on Thursday. \u201cIt\u2019s impossible to tell who is doing what. That\u2019s the point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defense, meanwhile, warned the jury about the free speech<\/a> implications of the charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government is asking you to put protesters in prison as terrorists. You are the only people who can stop that,\u201d Blake Burns, an attorney for defendant Elizabeth Soto, said, according to The Guardian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhen the villain is a made-up boogeyman then the target becomes \u2018anyone who disagrees with Trump\u2019\u2014and this is the result.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the jury decided<\/a> to convict eight defendants of material support for terrorism as well as riot, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, and use and carry of an explosive. However, they dismissed attempts by the state to argue that the protest constituted a pre-planned ambush and charge four people who had not shot at the police officer with attempted murder and discharging a firearm during a crime. Only Benjamin Song, the alleged shooter, was charged with one count of attempted murder and three counts of discharging a firearm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jury also convicted a ninth defendant, Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada, of conspiracy to conceal documents. Sanchez Estrada, who was not at the protest, had simply moved a box of zines out of his wife\u2019s home after she was arrested for the protest, according to The Intercept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe US lost today with this verdict,\u201d Sanchez Estrada\u2019s attorney, Christopher Weinbel, said, as AP reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support the Prarieland Defendants said<\/a> in a statement, \u201cEverything about this trial from beginning to end has proven what we have said all along: This is a sham trial, built on political persecution and ideological attacks coming from the top.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the group commended the solidarity that had sprung up among the defendants and their allies and vowed to continue to support them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>We have a long journey ahead of us to continue fighting these charges along with the state level charges,\u201d they said. \u201cWhat happens here sets the tone for what\u2019s to come. We are here and we won\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside observers warned about the implication for the right to protest under Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRemember all the people who dismissed the alarm over NSPM-7 because \u2018ANTIFA isn\u2019t even a real organization\u2019? We told you that didn\u2019t matter. When the villain is a made-up boogeyman then the target becomes \u2018anyone who disagrees with Trump\u2019\u2014and this is the result,\u201d said<\/a> Cory Archibald, the co-founder of Track AIPAC<\/a> [American Israel Public Affairs Committee].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content creator Austin MacNamara said<\/a>: \u201cThe Prairieland trial was given almost zero media coverage because of the blatant lies by DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and Police. This verdict now sets a precedent for criminalization of dissent across the board. Noise demos, Black-Bloc, pamphlets\/zines\/red cards, all of this can be used to imprison you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Academic Nathan Goodman wrote<\/a> that convicting people of terrorism based on clothing was a \u201cserious threat to the First Amendment<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The verdict gives new poignancy to what defendant Meagan Morris told NOTUS ahead of the jury\u2019s decision: \u201cIf we win, I think it shows that Trump\u2019s mandate is not working, that the people understand that you can\u2019t criminalize, you know, First and Second Amendment-protected activities. And I think if we lose, then\u2026 a lot of the country is OK with what\u2019s going on. And it will be a much darker time, it\u2019ll just signify a much increased crackdown on political opposition and free speech.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Rosane<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Rosane is a staff writer for Common Dreams.More by Olivia Rosane<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted in Politics and Movements: US \u2018Serious threat to the First Amendment\u2019 as Trump admin wins first antifa terror charge \u201cA case like this helps the government kind of see how far they can go in criminalizing constitutionally protected protest,\u201d one legal advocate said. by\u00a0Olivia Rosane March 16, 2026 (therealnews.com)… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47246"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47247,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47246\/revisions\/47247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}