Muslims for Just Futures is horrified by the extreme sentences handed down today in the Prairieland case. This morning, defendants received the maximum possible sentences. These sentences, ranging from 30 to 100 years, are death by incarceration.
Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Savanna Batten, Elizabeth Soto and Meagan Morris were sentenced to 50 years in prison, while Maricela Rueda was sentenced to 70 years in prison. Benjamin Song was sentenced to 100 years in prison.
These convictions for what was intended to be a noise demonstration in solidarity with people detained at the facility send a message that anyone exercising their right to protest and more broadly, anyone critical of the government, will face the full wrath of the state. Particularly for anyone who dares to organize in solidarity with immigrant communities. Daniel Sanchez-Estrada for example, who was not even at the protest, was sentenced to 30 years for concealing a document after prosecutors said he moved leftwing zines and other materials. These materials included content on decolonization, anti-fascism, anarchy, the abolition of ICE and police, opposition to Israel, noise demonstrations, direct action and animal rights. There is no need to infer the state’s motivations from these sentences. Judge O’ Connor openly stated that he is giving the maximum sentences because he wants to send a message to anyone who shares a similar ideology.
This prosecution marks the federal government’s first successful use of material support for terrorism charges against individuals alleged to be associated with the loosely defined anti-fascist ideology often described as “antifa,” and serves as an early test of policies outlined in NSPM-7.These convictions likely preview what is to come–increasingly aggressive political prosecutions against left ideologies and political identities. As former Attorney General Pam Bondi stated, the convictions in this case “on terrorism charges will not be the last as the Trump administration systematically dismantles Antifa and finally halts their violence on America’s streets.”This should concern broader civil society actors, from organizers to journalists, legal observers, mutual aid volunteers, movement attorneys, scholars, advocates, and community members who publicly criticize those in power.
The impact of these sentences reaches far beyond the individuals prosecuted and sentenced–they are the administration’s battle cry against political dissent. These sentences are the latest example of the federal government’s willingness to stretch national security and terrorism frameworks to their maximum, terrifying edges.
These Prairieland sentences are the latest use of “terrorism” laws that have historically been weaponized to criminalize solidarity, suppress movements, and punish communities. These federal “material support for terrorism” statutes are operating as intended–to crush those whose political views, associations, or criticisms place them at odds with the government. History gives us ample reason for alarm at the government weaponizing laws to target movements. From the Red Scare, to COINTELPRO, the Green Scare, to the post-9/11 national security apparatus, the United States has repeatedly used expansive security frameworks to monitor, disrupt, and criminalize those who dare to speak out. These policies deliberately spill outward, reaching speech, association, organizing, solidarity work, and opposition to state violence.
Now is not the time to be silent.
We call on movements to condemn these sentences and the Prairieland prosecution. We call on the legal community to condemn this absolute mockery of the law for political agendas that deliberately destroy people’s lives. We call on civil society to reject the state narrative applying the terrorism framework to movements while enabling and expanding state terror itself. We call on investments into criminal legal defense infrastructure to ensure individuals within movements have adequate legal defense and protection. We urge civil rights, legal, and pro-democracy groups to condemn the dangers of political prosecutions, NSPM-7, and the material support for terrorism apparatus that is working to effectively criminalize solidarity and crush movements.
