The second attempt at a federal trial of nine people connected to the nonfatal July 4 shooting of a police officer outside an immigration detention center begins Monday 鈥� one week after a federal judge in Fort Worth declared a mistrial during jury selection.
The case stems from what defendants and supporters say was a noise demonstration outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado meant to show support for people inside the facility.
The Justice Department alleges the defendants are part of a that coordinated the incident to kill ICE agents.
A total of 19 people have been arrested in connection with the shooting over the past seven months. Some of the federal defendants face up to life in prison for their charges, which include attempted murder and providing material support to terrorists.
Benjamin Song, the 32-year-old former Marine Corps reservist accused of being the gunman and the group's ringleader, spoke with 四虎影院 from jail and said he was "confident" ahead of the first round of jury selection.
"I feel overall that the case has been pretty ridiculous," he said. "The government has harmed a lot of people going overboard here."
Seven others facing federal charges pleaded guilty in November and face sentencing in March. Three more defendants face only state charges.
Government officials have called this the first-ever federal domestic terrorism case associated with 鈥渁苍迟颈蹿补," short for anti-fascist. President Donald Trump a domestic terror threat last year.
Judge Mark Pittman declared a mistrial hours into jury selection last week in response to defense attorney MarQuetta Clayton's shirt featuring American civil rights protest imagery, which he said could send a political message to the jury pool. Clayton could face sanctions for wearing the shirt, which Pittman said violated a court order on dress code.
In a text message to 四虎影院, Clayton declined to comment on the mistrial but said she looked forward to 鈥渟peaking publicly about this issue."
Pittman will now singlehandedly conduct jury selection Monday after he expressed frustration with the defense's jury questioning. Lawyers in the case say while that's legal, it could change the answers given by the prospective jurors.
鈥淭he key difference here with the judge asking the questions is the jurors are going to be more deferential and more likely to give answers to please the judge versus the answers they would give to an attorney,鈥� George Lobb, defendant Maricela Rueda鈥檚 attorney in state court, previously told 四虎影院. 鈥淭he attorney is closer in range to being equals to the jurors.鈥�
Additional reporting by 四虎影院's Penelope Rivera.
Toluwani Osibamowo is 四虎影院鈥檚 law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org.
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