Criminalizing Dissent: Trump DOJ Wins Terrorism Conviction of Antifa Activists

Interview with Xavier de Janon, an attorney representing an anti-ICE activist in the Prairieland Texas terrorism trial, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

antifa

On the 4th of July, last year, supporters of people held in the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, held a noise and fireworks protest outside the facility to show their support for the detainees inside. At the end of the rally a local police officer arrived, shots were fired and 10 people were arrested.

The first group of nine were convicted on March 13 on federal terrorism and other charges. They face at least 15 years in prison. The defendants are being held in jail pending sentencing later this year. The group also faces state charges, with bail set at $1 million. This is the first time the Trump DOJ has succeeded in bringing domestic terrorism charges against activists who they accuse of being members of antifa.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Xavier de Janon, co-founder of the People’s Law Collective, which represents political defendants across the South. De Janon, a member of the National Lawyers Guild, represents one of the defendants, Elizabeth Soto in her state case and provided support to defense attorneys in the federal case. Here, de Janon explains why he believes this prosecution represents an escalation in the Trump regime’s attack on people’s right to protest and free speech.

XAVIER DE JANON: Unfortunately, after the noise was finished and the noise demonstration was successful, when the people were leaving, an officer arrived from the local police department—from Alvarado Police Department—gets out of his car, draws his firearm towards some protesters who were running away and that’s when shots get fired in his direction. Then the officer shoots back three times and then one of the bullets seems to have hit around his shoulder area. Because of that shooting, everything got so intense and aggressive against every single person that was even remotely connected to the noise demo. The government had actually charged a lot of people with first degree attempted murder. And it was actually three counts because there were Alvarado police and there were two ICE wardens, the people who work at the detention center that were there. It was three counts of attempted murder against multiple defendants because they said they had a plan and they were coordinating.
But only Benjamin “Champagne” Song, was found guilty of one count for the Alvarado police officer. What was awful is that the attorney was trying to argue self-defense and defense of others. The officer pulled his firearm first, but the judge didn’t allow that argument. He banned it. He blocked it.
MELINDA TUHUS: Is it legal for someone to shoot a police officer in self-defense?
XAVIER DE JANON: I mean, the legal answer is that if the officer was acting unlawfully, like they had no reason to point their firearm at you and you were not provoking or anything. There is a right to self-defend against unlawful police conduct. I mean, this is the law across the country. It gets a bit murky when the officers say, “No, there was grounds for suspicion of violence or there were grounds for an arrest.” But generally, the right to self-defend is very strong in this country.

MELINDA TUHUS: Xavier di Janon, how many people were convicted and on which charges?

XAVIER DE JANON: The total number of defendants convicted federally were nine. Eight of them were charged on the riot, use of explosives to commit a felony and the material support for terrorism. The ninth person, Daniel “Des” Rolando Sanchez Estrada, had separate charges for concealment of evidence. Des wasn’t at the protest. It came out he didn’t even know it was happening, but his wife got arrested—who did get convicted and he helped move things from his wife’s home.

MELINDA TUHUS: What conclusions do you draw from this case and why do you think it hasn’t gotten the publicity that many other cases around the country have?

XAVIER DE JANON: This federal government does not care about the truth. We all know this. We say it all the time. But again and again during the trial, even the cooperating defendants said there is no antifa cell. It doesn’t exist. It’s not real. But then after the convictions, Department of Justice issued a press release that said we got the North Texas terrorist cell convicted. So this problem of truth, we all need to keep reminding ourselves and reminding especially centrist and maybe more middle of the road people, Just because the Department of Justice is saying something doesn’t mean it’s true. This was a struggle for this case because the Department of Justice was saying terrorists, pre-planned ambush, attempted murder and people really believed that that was true. When people on the ground were saying, “No, we know it was a noise demo.” Some of us saw the flyer. So I think that’s a big thing.

What is true and part of authoritarianism is propaganda and telling people lies, convincing them. Separately, I think we all need to be aware of the fact that a noise demo resulted in felonies. I mean, federal felonies. The aggression of this government is that strong. And I think for me, it’s a matter more of preparedness and understanding the legal potentials and being ready for them. For years now, we have seen how very simple protest cases have turned into felonies or into misdemeanors that take years to resolve. This explosion on anti-ICE sentiment really escalated with Chicago and Portland and Minneapolis especially, but all those things happened after July 4, 2025.

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