Anti-ICE activists received lengthy prison terms — including a 100-year sentence — in the first major trial of the NSPM-7 era.

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — DANIEL SANCHEZ ESTRADA wasn’t accused of attempted murder or material support of terrorism after a protest turned catastrophically wrong outside an ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas. He was merely convicted of obstructing the investigation by moving a box full of antifascist zines after the protest. Giving him a long prison term would make a mockery of justice, his defense attorney, Christopher Weinbel, told U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor on Tuesday.

“The punishment must fit the crimes — not the headlines, not the politics, not the fears that have been mongered about the case,” he said.

Instead, O’Connor gave Sanchez Estrada a 30-year term.

The lengthy sentence was among the eight harsh terms handed down by judges in two courtrooms in Fort Worth on Tuesday to activists who played roles at or after the July 4, 2025, protest at Prairieland Detention Center. Their sentences — longer than any of those received by members of the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol — capped a case that is widely regarded as the Trump administration’s first major victory in its crackdown on left-wing activism.

  • plyth@feddit.orgEnglish
    14·
    16 days ago

    By which law? This?

    18 U.S. Code § 1512 - Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant

    (c) Whoever corruptly— (1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding;

    shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

    https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1512

    • taiyang@lemmy.world
      5·
      15 days ago

      I mentioned in another thread about this that they did use laws that were on the books but clearly gave disgustingly long sentences. Since it’s “terrorism” they get to do additional bullshit; I was a teen in the Bush years but even I knew the whole anti-terrorism stuff was going to get abused.

      • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml
        2·
        15 days ago

        The funny thing about the term “Terrorism” is that according to it’s definition it can be applied to almost any belligerent in any international conflict.