Cameron Arnold: Federal Charges, 50-Year Sentence, and Appeal

Cameron Arnold, an activist also known as Autumn Hill, was sentenced on June 23, 2026, to 50 years in federal prison for her role in the July 4, 2025, attack on the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. A jury in the Northern District of Texas convicted her of riot, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, and using and carrying an explosive. She was acquitted of the attempted murder and firearm charges tied to a co-defendant’s shooting of a responding police officer.¹²

What Happened at Prairieland

Late on July 4, 2025, at least eleven people arrived outside the Prairieland Detention Center, a privately operated ICE facility south of Fort Worth. Prosecutors described the group as a North Texas antifa cell staging what its members called a “noise demonstration” in solidarity with detainees. Participants wore dark clothing and face coverings, and the group brought eleven firearms, body armor, and military-grade first aid kits. Many phones were turned off or placed in Faraday bags.³

The group set off fireworks, vandalized a guard shack and vehicles, destroyed a closed-circuit camera, and spray-painted graffiti. A front-desk employee called 911. When Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross arrived, co-defendant Benjamin Song allegedly yelled “get to the rifles!” and opened fire, striking Gross in the neck and back. Gross was hospitalized, treated, and discharged.⁴⁵ Most participants were arrested near the scene. Arnold was among them.

The Charges Against Arnold

The case, United States v. Arnold, et al. (No. 4:25-cr-00259), was filed in the Northern District of Texas and named sixteen defendants. Seven pleaded guilty before trial to one count each of providing material support to terrorists. Nine, including Arnold, went to trial.¹

On March 13, 2026, after a twelve-day trial before U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, the jury convicted Arnold on four counts: riot, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, and using and carrying an explosive. She and three co-defendants — Zachary Evetts, Bradford Morris, and Maricela Rueda — were acquitted of attempted murder of federal officers and the related firearm-discharge counts arising from Song’s shooting of Lt. Gross.¹²

The Material Support Theory

The charge that carried the most weight at sentencing was providing material support to terrorists under 18 U.S.C. § 2339A. That statute criminalizes support for specific federal crimes of terrorism and, unlike § 2339B, does not require a link to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Historically it had been used almost exclusively in international terrorism cases and rarely applied to domestic protest activity.⁶

The prosecution followed a September 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump designating “Antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization. Legal scholars noted that no statutory mechanism exists to formally designate domestic groups the way foreign groups are designated, but the order directed federal agencies to investigate and prosecute unlawful conduct linked to antifa.⁷ In December 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memorandum directing prosecutors to charge “the most serious, readily provable offenses” in domestic terrorism cases and to seek terrorism sentencing enhancements as a matter of course.⁸

The government paired the material support count with 18 U.S.C. § 1361 (depredation of government property) as a predicate offense, a combination that legal observers said had not been used for at least a decade before 2025 and that could allow minor property crimes like spray-painting to trigger severe terrorism-related prison terms.⁸ Observers also noted the indictment did not involve attorneys from the Justice Department’s National Security Division, who historically vetted material support charges.

Sentencing Day

On June 23, 2026, U.S. District Judges Mark Pittman and Reed O’Connor sentenced eight of the nine trial defendants. Arnold received 50 years — the same term given to Evetts, Bradford Morris (also identified as Meagan Morris), Savanna Batten, and Elizabeth Soto. Song received 100 years; Rueda, 70 years; and Daniel Sanchez-Estrada, 30 years for document-concealment charges. Arnold received two years of post-release supervision.²

All defendants present at the site were ordered to jointly pay $4,408.95 in restitution to the Prairieland Detention Center. Judge O’Connor rejected the defense’s characterization of the event as a protest, calling it “an assault on democracy” and saying, “The need to deter this type of conduct is high.”⁹ Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement: “The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice.”¹⁰

Reactions to the 50-Year Term

Attorney Cody Cofer, representing Arnold, argued there was no evidence his client possessed a firearm or believed in violence, and said she was “conscientious” enough to pick up trash after the fireworks. Arnold’s spouse, Lydia Koza, said: “I am livid. The government wants to take her entire life away because she attended a protest. Nobody died.”⁹

Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade called the sentences “unusually long,” noting that judges typically run sentences for separate counts concurrently rather than stacking them. She said she would have expected sentences in the range of 15 to 25 years, “but nothing like 50 to 100 years.”¹⁰ Sufia Khalid of the National Security Criminal Defense Center called the sentences “shocking” and “essentially life sentences” and described the terrorism enhancements as “overkill.”¹¹

Commentators drew comparisons to sentences from the January 6, 2021, Capitol prosecutions: Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio received 22 years, and Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes received 18 years, for seditious conspiracy.¹⁰

Post-Trial Motions and Appeal

After the verdict, Arnold’s defense team joined motions for judgments of acquittal and a new trial. The motions argued that the government failed to disclose FBI investigative records from 2018 concerning “Antifa DFW” that concluded the group and its affiliates posed no threat to national security — evidence the defense contended was exculpatory and required to be disclosed under Brady v. Maryland. The motions also cited juror misconduct and newly discovered evidence.⁷

The government filed its response on April 1, 2026. As of late June 2026, the court had not ruled. Federal Public Defender Jason Hawkins said the defense intends to appeal both the convictions and the sentences.⁷¹¹

1
U.S. Department of Justice. Antifa Cell Members Convicted for Prairieland ICE Detention Center Shooting
2
Fort Worth Report. Prairieland Shooter Gets 100 Years; Others 30-70 for ICE Detention Center Antifa Protest
3
U.S. Department of Justice. Antifa Cell Members Convicted for Prairieland ICE Detention Center Shooting
4
CBS News Texas. Prairieland ICE Facility Attack Evidence Released
5
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 10 Suspects Charged in July 4 Attack on Texas ICE Detention Facility
6
International Center for Not-for-Profit Law. Federal Terrorism Law and U.S. Civil Society: An Explainer
7
Charity and Security Network. United States v. Cameron Arnold et al.
8
Just Security. How a Broadly Defined Counterterrorism Statute Could Be Abused
9
Al Jazeera. Protesters Sentenced to Decades in US Prison Over Alleged Antifa Ties
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The Guardian. Prairieland ICE Protesters Sentenced in Texas
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Democracy Now. Prairieland Nine