Overview
- Federal judges in Fort Worth completed multi‑stage sentencing that left 15 defendants from the July 4, 2025 Prairieland protest with a combined total of 556 years in prison, including Benjamin Hanil Song’s 100‑year term for attempted murder.
- Seven defendants were sentenced on July 1 to terms from 22 months to 50 years after earlier rounds on June 23 produced lengthy sentences for eight others who went to trial.
- Separately, 14 of 15 people indicted in Minnesota for allegedly conspiring to impede ICE pleaded not guilty at arraignments on July 1 and a judge is handling disputes over whether to treat the case as complex.
- Prosecutors say the Minnesota case rests on roughly 20 terabytes of evidence — about 16 terabytes of Signal chats plus 47,000 pages of documents and hundreds of video and audio files — creating major discovery, redaction and possible warrant‑related challenges.
- Civil‑liberties lawyers, activists and some local officials warn the prosecutions risk chilling lawful protest, while DOJ officials argue the cases target organized violent conduct rather than protected speech and defendants have said they will appeal or contest the evidence.