Posted on 04/20/2019 6:49:48 PM PDT by Candor7
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A New Mexico man belonging to an armed group that has detained Central American families near the U.S.-Mexico border was arrested Saturday in a border community on a criminal complaint accusing him of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, authorities said.
The FBI said in a statement it arrested 69-year-old Larry Mitchell Hopkins in Sunland Park with the assistance of local police. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said in a separate statement that Hopkins was a member of the group that had stopped migrants.
Hopkins was booked into the Dona Ana County detention centre in Las Cruces and it wasn’t immediately known whether he has an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
The FBI statement did not provide information on Hopkins’ background, and FBI spokesman Frank Fisher told The Associated Press that no additional information would be released until after Hopkins has an initial appearance Monday in federal court in Las Cruces.
The FBI said Hopkins is from Flora Vista, a rural community in northern New Mexico and approximately 353 miles (572 kilometres) north of Sunland Park, which is a suburb of El Paso, Texas.
The Sunland Park Police Department on Saturday referred an AP reporter to the FBI.
Balderas said in a statement that Hopkins “is a dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families. Today’s arrest by the FBI indicates clearly that the rule of law should be in the hands of trained law enforcement officials, not armed vigilantes.”
Federal authorities on Friday warned private groups to avoid policing the border after a string of videos on social media showed armed civilians detaining large groups of Central American families in New Mexico.
The videos posted earlier in the week show members of United constitutional Patriots ordering family groups as small as seven and as large as several hundred to sit on the dirt with their children, some toddlers, waiting until Border Patrol agents arrive.
Customs and Border Protection said on its Twitter account that it “does not endorse or condone private groups or organizations that take enforcement matters into their own hands. Interference by civilians in law enforcement matters could have public safety and legal consequences for all parties involved.”
Jim Benvie, a spokesman for United Constitutional Patriots, did not immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment made via Facebook.
Benvie said in a video that the group’s members were assisting a “stressed and overstrained Border Patrol” and said the group is legally armed for self-defence and never points guns at migrants. The posted videos do not show them with firearms drawn.
Armed civilian groups have been a fixture on the border for years, especially when large numbers of migrants come. But, unlike previous times, many of the migrants crossing now are children.
In the Border Patrol’s El Paso sector, which has emerged as the second-busiest corridor for illegal crossings after Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, 86% of arrests in March were people who came as families or unaccompanied children.
I hope thousands of militia volunteer and step forward to serve in the continuing crisis on the Southern border.That would tend to force the stupid Donks in Congress to pass legislation to close the various loop holes that fuel illegal aliens to break into our country in a colonization movement.
PING
Domestic law enforcement is the muscle for the Deep State.
Amazing how well the FBI can enforce laws when it wants to.
Hillary? Illegals? Holder? Obama?
Oh well. Just give the guy a court date and set him free.
Right??? That is how it works.
And they are NOT migrants. They are criminal illegal invaders.
Still can't carry if you're a convicted felon. Looks like he made a poor choice.
The FBI is fighting for the enemy, telling Americans we can’t defend our nation. We don’t need the FBI, CIA or the NSA. Americans need their freedom back which was stolen in 1861.
Unlike the “lower rung” field FBI agents (I’ve worked cases with any number of such GOOD agents.) the “coven” at FBI HQ’s top floor are CORRUPT to the center of their being.
IF I had my choice, I would ABOLISH all 80+ federal LE agencies (We need 80+ such agencies like we all need cancer.) & replace them with no more than 3-4 LARGE & CAREFULLY monitored/independently audited agencies.
Further, the agents, who are currently employed should be CAREFULLY checked for corruption & the BAD ones FIRED & prohibited from ever being a LE officer again.
Yours, TMN78247
Been following these stories, and the feds want to dampen any militia enthusiasm on the Southern border.I hope the militias crank it up big time!
See:
Story 1:
On US-Mexico border, militia vow to patrol until ‘wall is up’
Agence France-Presse ^ | 10 April 2019 | Paul Ratje
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3741104/posts
Story 2:
“Trump’s army: asylum seekers surrender to armed militia”
DAily Mail ( UK) ^ | 17 April 2019 | Rod Ardehali
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3743172/posts
Story 3;
(This thread)
Things are going to heat up on this militia situation on the Southern Border. Te UCP militia is duly constituted under the laws and statutes of New Mexico. The FBI and the open border left are trying to shut them down.
Just doing the job that our "Law Enforcement Agencies" are not ALLOWED to do by our own government.
Pretty cool, huh?
FMCDH(BITS)
The FBI are particularly talented with incidents that help erode 2A
... if you’re a convicted felon
Yeah you can’t be armed if you are a felon
But felons can vote, even if in jail
In dem districts anyway
Did you notice that there's no description of the "dangerous felony"?
That's because our Masters have us trained to salivate when the "dangerous felon" bell rings, like Pavlov's dogs.
Our little lizard brains shut off, and we begin chanting "Two legs good, felons bad!" on cue...
Screw that paid-off-by-the-drug-cartels AG creep. He's an effing paid liar - paid by the cartels.
He seems to be of Vietnam veteran age, and doesn't look like he repaired refrigerators stateside... ;-)
I’m betting that it’s a Lautenburg Amendment felony. Domestic violence is an easy way for the Commies to steal your guns. All it takes is a vengeful ex.
Lautenberg is a misdemeanor - not the “dangerous felony” that the lying Dem AG liar is lying about...
All Constitutional militias must defend this group.
Every militia also should swear personal allegiance to PDJT until the Constitutional Republic can be restored.
Militias were formed for times like these. The it’s way past time for the militia movement to unite behind Trump in a formal way. Constitutional citizen militias can and should become the military wing of the Trump Counter-Revolution.
It’s enough of a felony to justify the Fibbies, and the NM thugs, to arrest and jail the guy for being in possession. And since when has the local and national media bothered with a strict explanation of the truth?
to whom they want to apply the laws.
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