FBI Captures Man Accused of Trying to Kill Immigration Officers

FBI agents on July 15 arrested a former Marine reservist who officials allege participated in a recent attack on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Texas.

Agents, with assistance from other law enforcement agencies, tracked down Benjamin Song in Dallas, the FBI Dallas Field Office said in a statement posted to social media platform X.

“His arrest is the result of our determination to protect not only the community, but also our law enforcement partners that were the targets of a coordinated attack,” R. Joseph Rothrock, the special agent in charge of the office, said. “We have said it before, the FBI will not tolerate acts of violence toward law enforcement and will thoroughly investigate anyone that commits these types of offenses.”

The FBI had been offering up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Song, who does not have an attorney listed on the court docket.

According to a criminal complaint filed against Song, he attempted to kill federal officers on July 4 at the ICE immigration detention facility in Alvarado, Texas.

Song was part of a group of about a dozen people wearing all-black who launched the attack, officials said in court documents. The group, according to the complaint, spray painted graffiti on a structure and vehicles, including “[expletive] you pigs” and “ICE pig.”

At one point, the group fired shots at unarmed officers. Law enforcement found spent casings of a caliber typically used with AR-15-style rifles and, later, two AR-15-style rifles nearby, the complaint states.

Records show that Song purchased both the rifles as well as multiple other guns located with other suspects, according to the complaint.

One of the other individuals arrested for the attack told officers that he drove people he met online from Dallas to the detention center to “make some noise,” an FBI agent said in the document.

Another person who was charged told authorities that Song was one of the individuals. The defendant said that gunfire during the attack came from a rifle with a binary trigger. One of the rifles allegedly purchased by Song was found with such a trigger.

Analysis of Song’s cellphone indicated the device was close to the detention facility on July 4, around the time of the attack, and remained there throughout July 5, suggesting he was hiding in the area before fleeing, the FBI agent said.

Song was in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves from 2011 through 2016. He received an other-than-honorable discharge, according to the complaint.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the three counts of attempted murder of a federal officer. He was also charged with discharging a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of a crime of violence.