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.
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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.
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Hell, they’ve done well as to sell the People on a tiered-Citizenry already.
Hell, most don’t even bother to correct the verbiage anymore: Felon? They belong in jail (or on parole), no? CITIZENS are FREE to exercise their RIGHTS as any other
Cheated at tiddly winks in the park. Eight-year-old opponent cried to his mommy, said “the man was mean to me!” Dangerous.
Nah, fire people in all departments and agencies. Shut down entire departments.
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PING to # 58.
Thanks, an amused spectator.
Aaand you would have no problem falling in with this dude.
Now, I'm as rebel as the next guy, but I don't have any associates that have felony convictions and go by an "alias" - but that's just me.
Thanks for the ping.
Why would this guy go by a different name?
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3743501/posts?page=65#65
Dangerous felon?
He should be thanked for service to New Mexico and a grateful nation.
Start a petition for his pardon!
Its a good thing that America was founded by many who had become dangerous felons, according to the British back in colonial days.
The Green Mountain Boys under Ethan Allen was rife with “felons.” And they kicked British ass from lake Champlain to Boston Harbor.
In the present case, the weaponization of the now leftist FBI against the People continues. The FBI should be going after the mules and human slave traffickers.
You;ll get a kich out of reading about Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys militia, the State of New York found that Allen and his men were all felons, and suggested the death penalty.
Without them, the colonies may not have won the revolutionary war.
Every citizen has a right to form a militia.
Good Read: The Green Mountain Boys
https://www.revolutionary-war.net/green-mountain-boys.html
But lying Jessie Skillet walks.
Why would this guy go by a different name?
Hated his parents?
Mentally ill, dual personalities?
Two wives?
Two bank accounts, one legit, the other for drug money and subsequent tax evasion?
To obtain a Passport in a different name so he can hide in a non-extradition country?
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I'm just saying that felony fraud is weak sauce for AG Balderdash (D-Mehican Drug Cartels) to hang his wild-eyed spittle-laced "violent felon" allegations on.
Review Alice's Restaurant...
You noticed that too?
I also noticed: “...criminal complaint accusing him of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, authorities said...” - Yet working with law enforcement.
Here’s my guess: everyone in this group probably registered with law enforcement. With the NM gov and AG got pissed over the flack they were getting about folks doing THEIR job, the called up buds in the local FBI to run a full background check on everyone, and this was the only one they can find anything on.
We’ve seen this before. This story is meant to deter others from coming to patrol. It should do just the opposite.
Just my $0.02
FYI: Texas was INVADED by the Mexican Army at 2:00 PM last Saturday, April 13, 2019. The Mexican Army forced the FIRST SURRENDER of American troops to a foreign power on American soil since the War of 1812. Make NO mistake - the Mexican troops KNEW EXACTLY where they were. They all have GPS. The border is not the wall, but the center of the Rio Grande river. The question is what drug mules they were “protecting” as they entered the US. Mexican Army troops have been found before as many as 9 or 10 miles into the US. This needs to STOP. American soldiers need LOADED RIFLES, and vehicle mounted machine guns, not UNLOADED HANDGUNS. And they need to be in MARKED ARMY VEHICLES, not unmarked civilian cars, or Border Patrol vehicles. I would venture to suggest we we need a few Abrams tanks down there for their psychological deterrent value.
Now there’s where it is really at. Eliminate in toto all agencies, bureaus, and departments down to the original four and don’t “fold” personnel from the vanished units into those four. It would save a tremendous amount of money and perhaps Uncle could repay the debt as well as the Republic would be largely restored.
Did I mention, axe-murder the gubmint unions?
(decertify with a stroke of the pen)
Article 1-Section 10 ……. (last paragraph) “ No state shall….engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay. Article 4-Section 4……The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government , and SHALL PROTECT each of them against Invasion; ….. Clearly our representatives are not following the Constitution and should be held to account for Dereliction of Duty….Treason.
A Soros AG no doubt. I figured it was an exaggerated profile when I read it
His record shows convictions for fraud, escaping from prison, impersonating a police officer, and one prior possession of weapons by a felon.
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We’ve seen this before. This story is meant to deter others from coming to patrol. It should do just the opposite.
Just my $0.02
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Concur, but even those on the right enjoy their bread-n-circuses\Socialist ‘bennies’.
Not enough HURT(ing) to wake up the masses (likely, until too late)
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