Episode Details

Benjamin "Champagne" Song, a U.S. marine reservist, got 100 years in prison in Texas–no air-conditioning, sweltering heat–for saving a protester's life. So why are Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries busy battling social democrats rather than unifying resistance to Trump behind this urgent cause for freedom and the U.S. Constitution? 

 In Texas, eight political prisoners recently received a combined 450 years for a July 4th, 2025 demonstration outside an ICE concentration camp. Song got a century behind bars for firing a warning shot to stop a cop from shooting a fleeing, unarmed protester. Other defendants got decades simply for being in a book club or transporting a box of their own zines. 

This is illegal collective punishment designed to destroy our trust networks and terrorize the resistance–no matter where you live. We are sliding into a fascist fever dream, and any politician who wants our support in the 2028 Democratic Party primary must publicly commit to pardoning these political prisoners. 

Trump's Soviet-style war on antifa endangers us all, because America's progress, what makes this country great, like the U.S. helping liberate Europe from Nazis, was built by the anti-fascists. Anyone who is anti-antifa is clearly a fascist. It's as simple as that. 

We refuse to let them normalize this terror. Support our independent journalism by subscribing to Gaslit Nation on Patreon and Substack today so we can keep fighting back. Thank you to everyone who supports the show–we could not make Gaslit Nation without you. 

A quick correction: An earlier version got the timeline wrong and said the Prairieland protests happened after the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, when they happened before. We've fixed it, and we're sorry for the error.

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Show Notes:

Post-Sentencing Statement from Benjamin "Champagne" Song https://prairielanddefendants.com/defendant-writings/statement-by-benjamin-champagne-song/

The Guardian clip: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaMfR_lu-3v/

Opening clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUxP9enCBaQ

How to Help the Prairieland Defendants: Donate, write letters to them in prison, amplify their story on social media, if you're a media outlet – tell their story: https://prairielanddefendants.com/

Texas anti-ICE protesters convicted of terrorism charges sentenced to at least 50 years in prison https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/23/prairieland-ice-protesters-texas-sentenced

Federal trial over air conditioning in Texas prisons set to start Monday https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/criminal-justice/2026/03/30/547466/texas-prison-air-conditioning-lawsuit/