Remember when we were told Antifa was just an idea? You know, like how a hurricane is just a light breeze or a grizzly bear is just a large puppy. Well, that idea just got sentenced to a whole lot of prison time in a Fort Worth courtroom this week, and as USA Journal reported, there was apparently quite a bit of crying involved.
Seven more convicted members of a North Texas Antifa cell faced sentencing before U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman and Chief U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor. This follows last week's absolute hammer drop of 450 years of collective prison time handed to the first batch of defendants from the same group. For context, 450 years ago Henry VIII was still a relatively new king of England. These folks will not be seeing daylight for a while.
The sentences this round ranged from 22 months for those who cooperated with prosecutors to 50 years for Ines Soto, who refused a plea deal. Bold strategy, Ines. The remaining defendants, Nathan Baumann, Joy Gibson, Rebecca Morgan, Lynette Sharp, Seth Sikes, and John Thomas, received sentences ranging from 22 months to 15 years after accepting plea agreements. Another defendant, Susan Kent, had her sentencing rescheduled to next week.
Independent journalist Andy Ngo, who has spent years documenting Antifa activity while most legacy media outlets pretended nothing was happening, broke the courtroom details. He reported that one defendant, Rebecca Morgan, allegedly attempted to take her own life before sentencing, though no additional records were available.
According to reporting from Ngo and Townhall, at least a quarter of the 16 total defendants identify as trans, and all are being housed in facilities matching their biological sex.
Now here is the part that makes this whole saga remarkable. This was not a group of people who got a little rowdy at a protest and knocked over a trash can. This was an organized cell that ambushed an ICE detention facility and shot a federal law enforcement officer, putting him in the hospital. For years, the expectation among certain groups seemed to be that sympathetic prosecutors and lenient judges would make consequences disappear like a magician's rabbit. Two federal judges in Fort Worth apparently did not get that memo.
Speaking of those judges, both Pittman and O'Connor are reportedly now receiving threats from Antifa allies for doing their jobs. Threatening federal judges for sentencing people who shot at federal officers is certainly a choice. A deeply stupid choice, but a choice nonetheless.
Andy Ngo posted on social media about the proceedings, writing: "Remember how Texas Antifa terrorists were sentenced to 450 years in federal prison? It's not over yet. More were sentenced today. There was crying in court."
The Fort Worth courtroom is sending a message that attacking federal facilities and shooting law enforcement officers comes with consequences that no amount of courtroom tears will wash away. Whether that message reaches the next group of people thinking about trying something similar remains to be seen, but the price tag is now posted clearly on the wall for everyone to read.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
