|
Testimony of Lt. Thomas Gross Undermined Government Arguments that the Noise Protest on July 4, 2025 Was an “Ambush” and “Planned Attack”
|
|
FORT WORTH, TX – Opening arguments and testimony from the Alvarado police officer at the center of the controversial Prairieland ICE Detention Center case marked the first day of trial yesterday against nine defendants. The federal government offered no new or compelling arguments in their opening statement and relied heavily on First Amendment-protected activity to make their case. However, during cross-examination, Alvarado police officer Lt. Thomas Gross revealed information that undermines the government’s narrative that the noise demonstration on July 4, 2025 was an “ambush” and that police were the targets of a “planned attack.”
During today’s proceedings, the defense team was able to cross-examine Lt. Gross, who was injured at the scene. This is the first time Gross has spoken publicly since the incident. He described a hectic scene with few details, claiming to see only a small handful of male individuals, despite multiple women defendants in the case.
On cross-examination, Lt. Gross said he spent between 2-4 hours in the hospital before being released, and could not explain why he appears to have been shot from the back despite also claiming to have been facing the person who the government alleges fired at him. Gross could not say who drew their weapon first, but he admitted drawing his weapon without any obvious threat. Gross stated that when he arrived on the scene, there was no alleged criminal activity being committed more serious than “criminal mischief.” In response to questions from defense attorney Phillip Hayes, Gross admitted that he was pointing his firearm at a fleeing person’s back, before encountering the individual holding a rifle. This testimony seemed to contradict the government’s claim that the police were ambushed.
The Prairieland case has drawn significant attention due to the use of First Amendment-protected political literature as evidence of the alleged criminal conspiracy. This concern was underscored again today by the key role that literature played in the prosecution’s opening arguments. Remarkably, a printing press found in a raid on the home of defendants Liz and Ines Soto was one of the only aspects of the government’s opening statement linking the Sotos to the broader case. The government claimed that the use of this printing press to create “zines” constitutes criminal activity.
Access issues continued to plague the Northern District Courthouse, with family members prevented multiple times from attending trial. In one instance, a family member of a Prairieland defendant was removed from the courtroom after seeming to fall asleep during the proceedings. This had been preceded by an incident at the beginning of the day when Lydia Kosza, the wife of defendant Autumn Hill, was removed from the courtroom when a section of seats was cleared for law enforcement. Kosza was only able to re-enter after another attendee volunteered to leave.
The nine Prairieland defendants, Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Daniel “Des” Rolando Sanchez Estrada, Benjamin “Champagne” Song, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto were indicted in November on a variety of charges including riot, discharging a firearm, attempted murder, material support for terrorism, and conspiracy to conceal documents, all stemming from a noise demonstration in support of immigrant detainees being held at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
Trial continues today, Wednesday, February 25, and is expected to last up to three weeks.
The Prairieland cases, involving 19 people facing both state and federal charges, stem from a noise demonstration in solidarity with detainees at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4, 2025. After the protest, an officer with the Alvarado Police Department allegedly became involved in an exchange of gunfire soon after arrival. The officer allegedly sustained minor injuries, and was reportedly released from the hospital shortly afterwards. Authorities have still not provided hospital records to justify these claims, six months later. Alvarado police arrested ten people in the area, and a manhunt ensued in the subsequent days for another defendant. Eight more defendants were arrested in the days and weeks following the protest.
Prejudicial and sweeping statements related to these cases have been made repeatedly by officials at the highest levels of government, polluting the perceptions of the public from which the jury will be drawn and undermining the defendants’ ability to get a fair trial. The Trump administration has publicly claimed that the Prairieland case is the first legal case against “Antifa,” widely considered to be an informal set of anti-authoritarian beliefs, but recently designated as a domestic terrorist organization. On September 25, the White House released the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7), which ordered all federal law enforcement agencies to prioritize combating Antifa as a domestic terrorism threat. FBI director Kash Patel has called the defendants “Antifa-aligned anarchist violent extremists,” sharing Fox News coverage of the case on X.
###
|
|
For more information on the Prairieland cases and the DFW Support Committee:
prairielanddefendants.com |