Antifa Terror Network Expands: Three more suspects have been charged in the conspiracy to help now-convicted Antifa terror ringleader Benjamin Song escape after a terrorist attack on the Prairieland Detention Center.
Three more accused associates of a North Texas Antifa terror cell have been indicted on state felony charges for allegedly helping the convicted ringleader evade capture after the July 2025 shooting attack outside an immigration detention center in Alvarado, Texas.
A Johnson County grand jury indicted Melanie Lynn Estes, Andrew Tyler Smith and Steven Thomas Reyna in March but the indictment was only recently unsealed. They’re charged with one count each of engaging in organized criminal activity and hindering the prosecution of terrorism.
The indictments accuse the three of participating in a criminal conspiracy that helped Antifa member Benjamin Song avoid arrest after he allegedly shot Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross outside the Prairieland Detention Center on July 4, 2025.
North Texas Antifa ringleader Benjamin Song was convicted of attempted murder and other felonies at a federal trial in March 2026
Prosecutors allege Estes, Reyna and Smith worked alongside previously charged and now-convicted defendants Lynette Sharp and Susan Kent to transport, harbor or conceal Song and provide him with the means of avoiding arrest after the shooting.
Song was an FBI and Texas top-wanted fugitive for 11 days following the terrorist attack.
The new indictments stem from what federal prosecutors have described as an organized Antifa attack on the Prairieland ICE detention facility in Alvarado by a North Texas Antifa cell.
“This remains an open case until there are no more leads to follow,” a spokesman in the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement to The Post Millennial. “This is just the next step in holding everyone who played a role in this act of domestic terrorism accountable.”
In March, a federal jury in Fort Worth convicted Song and eight other members in the first federal Antifa terrorism trial in U.S. history. Jurors found the defendants guilty on charges including providing material support to terrorists, rioting, conspiracy involving explosives and related crimes. Song, whom prosecutors identified as the ringleader, was separately convicted of attempted murder for shooting Gross in the neck during the attack.
Seven other co-defendants pleaded guilty before trial. Five of them flipped and testified against their nine comrades.
Trial testimony showed members of the group arrived at the detention center dressed in black bloc clothing and carrying firearms, body armor, medical supplies and explosive devices. Prosecutors said the group used large fireworks to lure officers from the facility before the shooting began.
Lt. Gross survived because the round struck his protective vest and neck area. During the trial, prosecutors entered his blood-stained vest into evidence.
The new indictments bring the total number of defendants charged in state and federal proceedings connected to the Prairieland terror attack to 22 suspects.
The latest indictments focus on the aftermath of the attack.
Sharp and Kent admitted to federal prosecutors to helping transport Song from a wooded area near the detention center to Dallas after the shooting. Song remained hidden at another defendant’s residence while authorities conducted the manhunt.
The indictments allege Estes, Smith and Reyna were part of that same conspiracy. Bail was set at $500,000 each for Estes and Smith and $250,000 for Reyna. All three have since bonded out of custody. Reyna has pleaded not guilty.
Terror suspect Melanie Lynn Estes works as a graphic designer in Richardson, Texas
The DFW Support Committee, an Antifa collective advocating for the terror suspects and convicts, issued a statement saying the three do not intend to cooperate against their co-defendants.
The new indictments bring the total number of defendants charged in state and federal proceedings connected to the Prairieland terror attack to 22.
Another defendant, Dario Sanchez, a former teacher in the Dallas Independent School District, is scheduled for trial on June 22. Prosecutors allege he removed Song and co-defendant John Thomas from a group chat after the shooting and tampered with evidence.
The 16 federal defendants who have been convicted are scheduled to be sentenced in Fort Worth on June 18. They still have open state terrorism charges against them in separate cases that have not yet gone to state trial.
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