Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., sparked fierce backlash after her obvious protection of accused antifa cell members sentenced to many years in jail for a violent assault on a Texas immigration facility that federal prosecutors known as an act of terrorism.
One of many defendants, Benjamin Music, a former Marine Corps reservist, was handed a 100-year jail sentence — the utmost punishment — Tuesday after being convicted of tried homicide for capturing Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross, who survived a bullet to the neck.
Seven different suspects, allegedly of the North Texas antifa cell, got sentences spanning 30 to 70 years for costs equivalent to offering materials help to terrorists, conspiracy to make use of weapons and explosives, and rioting.
“These sentences are a travesty and completely unjustified, however that’s the purpose,” Tlaib, a progressive lawmaker related to “the Squad,” wrote on social media. “People hate the fascist Trump regime, so the one method they will attempt to cling to energy is brute pressure.”
Tlaib sharply criticized a 2025 doc, generally known as the Nationwide Safety Presidential Memo 7, that President Donald Trump launched within the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination and that categorised antifa as a “home terrorist group.”
The Texas trial was the primary time federal prosecutors efficiently introduced terrorism costs towards accused members of the far-left antifascist motion following the memo and an govt order associating the militant group with home terrorism.
“NSPM-7 is a grave risk to all of us and extra bulls— ‘terrorism’ costs like these are coming,” she added.
The feedback sparked sharp criticism from conservatives, who argued Tlaib appeared to excuse the conduct of the violent rioters.
“Counterpoint: Her associates shot a cop,” conservative columnist Kurt Schlichter wrote on social media.
White Home Deputy Chief of Employees Stephen Miller fired again at Tlaib for “defending antifa terrorists who tried to bloodbath state and federal legislation enforcement” as a member of Congress.
“They had been confirmed at courtroom to be a part of a terrorist antifa cell that educated for and deliberate violence utilizing firearms,” journalist Andy Ngo wrote. “They used massive explosives to lure out federal brokers and police earlier than capturing one within the neck. The trial featured key testimonies from 5 cell members who flipped, detailing how they organized behind the antifa ideology.”
“Congresswoman, I do know you have to be very upset that these terrorists you might be sympathetic to didn’t get away with it this time,” Ngo added.
In response to proof introduced at trial, the defendants arrived on the facility on the night of July 4, 2025, with firearms and military-grade first help kits whereas wearing darkish clothes and face coverings to hide their identities. The group then started to vandalize property, together with a safety digital camera, whereas launching fireworks on the immigration detention heart, in line with prosecutors.
When officers inside the power known as 911, Gross, the Alvarado police officer, responded to the premeditated assault, federal prosecutors stated. In response to police footage introduced on the trial, Music was heard yelling, “Get to the rifles!”
He then opened fireplace on Gross, who testified in the course of the trial {that a} bullet traversed his shoulder and neck.
“Their terrorist acts, tried homicide, vandalism, and explosives launched at a detention facility had been a far cry from a peaceable protest or First Modification expression,” U.S. Lawyer Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas stated in an announcement Tuesday. “We’ll proceed on this mission to carry others accountable who perpetrate such violence and fund these ANTIFA teams within the Northern District of Texas.”
Counsel for Music argued that he shot Gross in self-defense, calling the bullet “suppressive fireplace,” which Decide Mark Pittman, who oversaw the trial, categorically dismissed. Kin of the convicted defendants argued the decades-long sentences had been overly harsh and that they didn’t intend for any violence to happen.
A spokesperson for Tlaib didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
