After mistrial, judge takes jury selection reins in Texas ICE center shooting case

At times, the discussion on Monday inside a federal district courtroom in Fort Worth sounded as if it was from an AM radio talk show, with callers chiming in on hot-button political matters like guns, terrorism and antifa.

At one point, the host, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, asked a mostly attentive audience whether anyone believed transgender people are more likely to be violent. A woman shared her view that mental illness was likely in play. No one else raised their hand.

One participant was less engaged. Prospective Juror No. 42 fell asleep.

But rather than passionate fuel for a radio broadcast, the responses were from prospective jurors on subjects at the center of a trial that is underway in Fort Worth in which nine defendants have been indicted in connection with the July 4 shooting of a police lieutenant outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Johnson County.

The hunt for a fair and impartial jury began anew after the first effort to impanel a jury was halted last week when Judge Pittman declared a mistrial in the case because a defense attorney, while questioning potential jurors, wore a T-shirt on which there were photos of Civil Rights Era-protesters.

Pittman concluded that attorney MarQuetta Clayton wore the shirt in an attempt to visually equate the civil rights movement to the Prairieland Detention Facility shooting, a position perhaps appropriate for argument to the jury, the judge said, but improper to deliver via clothing to panel members in jury selection.

Clayton wore the shirt under a blazer.

Pittman himself handled questioning in the second attempt at selecting a jury after offering the U.S. Attorney’s Office and defense attorneys an opportunity to suggest questions.

A 14-member jury was sworn in on Monday afternoon. Opening statements are expected on Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors have 61 potential witnesses. The trial is likely to take about two and a half weeks.

Pittman asked whether any of the prospective jurors held strong feelings about immigration enforcement or antifa, and whether, if they did, the panel members would only consider evidence from the trial in verdict deliberation and set aside political sentiments.

The case’s top count is attempted murder. Defense attorneys suggest the culpability of each defendant is in question.

Although much of the activity outside the Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado was recorded on video, the defendants’ use of monikers in encrypted written messages in advance of the shooting, avoidance of cellphones that would indicate their location and employment of other methods to maintain “op-sec” has stymied the connection of behavior to an individual defendant, the government has suggested.

The defendants’ attorneys refer to their clients as protesters. The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office describe them as attackers and domestic terrorists aligned with antifa.

Some ignited fireworks, others spoke from a bullhorn, still others spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on vehicles and an unoccupied guard booth.

One of the defendants, Benjamin Song, a 32-year-old former Marine Corps reservist who associates described to authorities as a cult-like ringleader who opposes the government on immigration enforcement and on other matters, shot Alvarado Police Department Lt. Thomas Gross, authorities allege.

The lieutenant suffered one gunshot wound that entered near his shoulder and exited his back.

Song was the only non-law enforcement shooter, the government alleges. He is accused of firing 11 rounds from a rifle. Gross returned fire with three rounds.

Song and the other defendants were motivated by the position that the migrants who are detained at the ICE facility are political prisoners, Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith asserted at an earlier hearing in the case.

Beyond Song, the defendants are Autumn Hill (referred to as Cameron Arnold in the indictment), Zachary Evetts, Savanna Batten, Meagan Morris (referred to as Bradford Morris in the indictment), Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto and Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada.