CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Trump Despotism: Fascist Repression in the United States on the Eve of the Nation’s 250th Anniversary

As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its break from and against the “tyranny” and “despotism” of the British government, the fascist Trump47 regime is carrying out a draconian campaign of tyrannical and despotic repression against free speech and public assembly.

NSPM-7 in Fascist Action in Texas and Minnesota

Last March, the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) successfully tried and convicted nine protesters on charges of “Antifa”-aligned terrorism for a July 4, 2025 action outside a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement concentration camp in Prairieland, Texas, just south of Dallas.

The trial focused on a protest in which participants set off fireworks in solidarity with the camp’s detainees. During the action, three protesters broke away from the larger group and vandalized ICE vehicles. A police officer drew his weapon at one of the activists and was allegedly by a protester legally armed with an AR-15 (Texas is an open-carry state).

The DOJ argued that the fact that the Prairieland activists all wore black clothes to the protest was sufficient to convict them of “material support for terrorism.” Also presented as supposed evidence of “terrorism” was the defendants’ use of the popular encrypted chat Signal.

Trump’s DOJ changed its initial charge of those arrested from “attempted murder of a police officer,” to “terrorism” and “material support for terrorism” after the White House designated “antifa” as a “terror group” in its September 25, 2025 National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7). This document directs federal law enforcement to target left-leaning groups and activities, all placed under the “antifa” rubric.

(Antifa is simply an umbrella term for militant leftish groups that confront neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.)

NPSM-7 (titled ‘Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence’) designates as legitimate targets of federal counterterrorism enforcement any individuals or groups suspected of being “anti-fascist,” “anti-American,” “anti-capitalist,” “anti-Christian,” or “hostile to traditional American views on family, religion and morality.” Never mind the absence of any statute authorizing the federal government to treat protected political speech as terrorism.

Yesterday, the Trump-appointed US District judge Reed O’Connor called the July 4, 2025 action “an assault on democracy” and collectively sentenced the Prairieland Eight to 450 years in prison. Benjamin Song (the alleged shooter), a former US Marine Corps reservist, convicted of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, got 100 years. Maricela Rueda got 70 years; Cameron Arnold, Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Bradford Morris, and Elizabeth Soto each got 50 years; Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada got 30 years.

Trump’s prosecutors argued that the eight are members of “antifa, a decentralized anti-fascist organization.” The defendants denied any affiliation with “antifa” and say they engaged in their action simply to support detained immigrants.

“This is a bunch of kids and young adults who really have a really big heart and really wanted their voice to be heard,” Song’s lawyer told reporters after the sentences were imposed. “It was never intended that anybody get hurt. It was never intended that any shots would be fired.” According to ABC News:

“Autumn Hill said the gathering ‘seemed more like a party to me than anything else’…she and others who participated ‘didn’t expect or want any violence or destruction of property to occur. Amber Lowrey told the judge that her sister, Savanna Batten, is a compassionate person with dreams of opening a bakery. She said Batten’s activism started with animal rights and evolved into anti-war and human rights advocacy. ‘She’s the best person I know,’ Lowrey said. Hill and Batten both received 50-year sentences.”

“I am livid,” says Autumn Hill’s wife Lydia Koza. “The government wants to take her entire life away because she attended a protest. Nobody died.”

The Trumpist prosecutor Frank Gatto urged the judge to order harsh sentences. “People with…extremist beliefs need extra time in prison,” Gatto said.

Gatto got what he wanted. –

(A ninth defendant, Ines Soto, will be sentenced on 1 July. Seven others involved in the incident pleaded guilty before the trial to one count of providing material support to terrorists. They face sentencing on July 1st.)

Trump’s personal attorney and acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche responded to the wildly disproportionate punishments by condemning political violence. “The sentences handed down today,” Blanche said, “make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice.”

The DOJ argues that the convicted activists were enlisted in a “North Texas Antifa Cell” that was part of a network dedicated to “the overthrow of the US government, law enforcement and the system of law.”

These are darkly ironic words from the mouth of a........

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