// THE VERGE — MOBILE & WEB
Charlie Kirk’s legacy is a 30-year sentence for moving zines
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Judges handed down harsh sentences connected to a shooting at an ICE facility — but some of the defendants weren’t even there.
Judges handed down harsh sentences connected to a shooting at an ICE facility — but some of the defendants weren’t even there.
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Just days after a gunman killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk, it became clear that President Donald Trump would use the assassination to fuel a crackdown on free speech. To avenge Kirk’s death, the administration vowed to go after so-called “antifa” (otherwise known as antifascist) terrorists. Now that promise is bearing fruit. This week, eight Texas activists were sentenced to between 30 and 100 years in prison — one for attempted murder, but most for supposedly belonging to an insurrectionary “Antifa cell,” including one sentenced to 30 years in part for moving a box of zines.
These unusually harsh sentences are a major victory for the Trump administration, one that will likely serve as a blueprint for targeting activists across the US. The emboldened administration has quickly celebrated them. In a statement, acting attorney general Todd Blanche said that the sentences show that the law will come down hard on “Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities.” But many of those sentenced did no such thing.
The Texas cases concern a July 4th, 2025 protest outside the Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas. Roughly a dozen protesters set off fireworks and shouted messages in Spanish through a bullhorn. Then it escalated: a few people slashed an ICE van’s tires, broke a security camera, and vandalized a guard shack. When guards came out of the building and told the group to leave, some complied, but others stayed. After a police officer arrived on the scene and drew his gun, one person shouted “Get to the rifles” and fired a rifle he’d brought with him, according to charging documents. The officer, who was shot in the neck, testified that he “knew” his life was in danger and spent three to four hours in the hospital after being shot.