The exterior of the Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas, seen during the Prairieland protest trial on March 9, 2026. Photo: Matt Sledge/The Intercept Federal agents raiding the home of two alleged antifa “operatives” seized a telling piece of evidence, a defense attorney said during closing arguments in a landmark trial Wednesday.
A printing press.
That printing press was never presented to jurors. Still, the government has kept it locked away because it hated the pamphlets and zines it published, lawyer Blake Burns said.
Burns represents Elizabeth Soto, one of nine defendants whose fates were in the hands of jurors as deliberations began Thursday. All are accused of roles during or after a late-night noise demonstration outside Prairieland Detention Center, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Dallas that ended with a local police officer wounded by gunfire.
The case has become a bellwether for the Trump administration’s crackdown on dissent from the left. The government charged people involved with the anti-ICE protest with a slew of charges, including attempted murder and terrorism counts that defense attorneys said are being used to criminalize protest.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
If they’re going to bring such heavy charges carrying such serious prison time for typical protesting actions (or apparel‽) it might just convince some people that any restraint is unnecessary and to “earn” their sentences. I get that the current assumption is that is the unspoken goal to claim additional legal power but there doesn’t seem to be much hope left that things won’t escalate there even without a “proper” inciting incident.
An interrobang‽ In the wild‽ Thank you for that!
I have a shortcut on my phone that every time I type a question mark followed by an exclamation mark it changes to the ‘bang. It’s fun.