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The sentencing of the Prairieland defendants this June represents the most frightening case of political repression in recent memory. 22 people have been indicted on sweeping state and federal charges stemming from a July 4, 2025 demonstration outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas.
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Prosecutors cast an extraordinarily wide net, including charging people who were not even at the protest: community members, partners, and family members. They relied on the dubious claim that the defendant’s possession of zines, their use of the Signal messaging app, and decision to wear black clothing, were proof that they were part of a domestic terror cell. All three are common practices among protestors.
This threatens to criminalize solidarity itself.
Defendants have endured months of pretrial detention under multimillion-dollar bonds, solitary confinement, repeated strip searches, and intense pressure to cooperate with the state’s narrative.
Many are now locked inside Johnson County Jail in Texas where they are subject to arbitrary solitary confinement, repeated strip searches, and gratuitous shackling. Their right to privileged conversations with their lawyers is consistently being disrupted.
“Whatever’s taken from me will wind up being taken from you. It may be these 22 strangers today, but it will be you tomorrow.”
– Champagne Song
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