Overview
- Jurors were seated Monday and heard opening statements Tuesday, with prosecutors asserting the group coordinated using encrypted chats and citing the phrase “Get to the rifles.”
- Prosecutors identify Benjamin Song as the lone non–law enforcement shooter accused of wounding Alvarado Lt. Thomas Gross, as Song faces counts including attempted murder and material support to terrorism.
- Lt. Gross testified he was shot once after confronting masked individuals near the Prairieland Detention Center, and a former sergeant described surveillance video and said outside security was lacking that night.
- Judge Mark Pittman is conducting voir dire himself, has imposed attire restrictions and short opening time limits, and moved public viewing to an overflow room in Dallas where the video feed briefly cut out.
- Defense lawyers describe the event as a noise demonstration, urge jurors to assess each defendant individually, and note several defendants left when told to do so, while five people who took plea deals are expected to testify.