{"id":615434,"date":"2026-02-25T15:53:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/615434\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T15:53:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:53:31","slug":"trial-begins-in-shooting-at-texas-immigration-detention-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/615434\/","title":{"rendered":"Trial begins in shooting at Texas immigration detention center"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JAMIE STENGLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

DALLAS (AP) \u2014 Federal prosecutors told jurors Tuesday that a shooting outside a Texas immigration detention center<\/a> last year was carried out by members of antifa, opening a closely watched trial that lawyers for the accused say seeks to wrongly punish a group of political demonstrators.<\/p>\n

Nine people have pleaded not guilty over their alleged involvement in what prosecutors called an attack on the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas last July, when a police officer was shot in the neck and wounded.<\/p>\n

Eight of the nine face a charge of providing material support to terrorists, which follows President Donald Trump\u2019s order to designate the decentralized movement known as antifa as a domestic terrorist organization<\/a>. Most of the defendants also face multiple charges, including attempted murder of a law officer.<\/a><\/p>\n

Lawyers for the defendants say the accused were not members of antifa and were instead taking part in a \u201cnoise demonstration\u201d that included fireworks on July 4, 2025, to show support for immigrants inside the center.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake no mistake, there\u2019s nothing peaceful about what happened on July Fourth,\u201d prosecutor Shawn Smith told jurors.<\/p>\n

The trial is expected to last upward of three weeks. Several defendants face up to live in prison if convicted.<\/p>\n

According to the indictment, a group of people clad in black and wearing masks, some carrying firearms and wearing body armor, shot fireworks toward the center and vandalized vehicles and a guard shed. Then, as local officers responded, one person yelled, \u201cget to the rifles\u201d and opened fire, striking the officer, the indictment said.<\/p>\n

Smith said that while it was defendant Benjamin Song who opened fire, several other defendants are also charged with attempted murder of a law officer and discharging a firearm because it was foreseeable from the group\u2019s planning that that could happen. Song\u2019s attorney did not give an opening statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The officer who was shot, Alvarado police Lt. Thomas Gross, was the first witness to testify Tuesday. He said he was responding at about 11 p.m. to a call from the detention center when he saw that there was graffiti on a guard shed and a stop sign and noticed a guard chasing a person clad in black with their face covered.<\/p>\n