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 wasnt 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. Todays 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 groups 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 Patrols 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.
This has happened before when pictures of milita are taken and published in the news. Frankly it hurts the image of militias and opens them up to unnecessary criticism. If you are a felon, get a cross bow. In most states felons can possess a bow. Modern crossbows are badass weapons.
OK, so you don't know what the "dangerous felony" is.
I've been reading about Stalin's "Great Terror", and the responses of the Russian people when the NKVD showed up at their doors in the middle of the night.
The Russians seem to have similar ideas about "law and ordure" that I see on a lot of conservative forums.
"How can agents of The State possibly be wrong? They're chust enfarcing the lore!"
Remind me how much time the felons Clinton served in prison, again... ;-)
We arrest this man who they claim is a felon yet they release illegal criminal immigrants into the country MS13 gang member no problem here is your bus ticket and a little cash for you to spend. Notice they don’t ever arrest liberals,illegals are Trump supporters just people who are trying to enforce our laws that the BP, ICE, FBI, DOJ won’t do unless you are a conservative.
?!80+?!
Is there a List of these 80+ ?
OMG ! I promise I made My Post before scrolling down and reading Your Post.
I’m sure there is a current list but this moment I cannot lay hands on it.- THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS printed the list a about 3-4 years ago = IF you want to know the TOTAL, go through all the many federal agencies (BIG & SMALL) & count the ones who have LE agents.
(Even the USDA has a police force. - Fyi, some 5 years ago, I tried to find out what the function of USDA Special Agents actually IS & was singularly unsuccessful at that task.= As best as I could tell, the USDA SA have NO actual function, other than acting as chauffeurs for “VIPs”, running errands & mostly “just standing around”.)
The federal government is REALLY GOOD at hiring people who have few or NO qualifications NOR a real job but nonetheless get a paycheck.
Yours, TMN78247
Agreed. It also would be a good campaign move by the president.
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. ]
[ Domestic law enforcement is the muscle for the Deep State.
They pick and choose which laws they want to enforce, and to whom they want to apply the laws to. ]
We live in a de-facto state of anarchy.
“When your laws are too numerous, picking and choosing which laws to use against your enemies and which laws to ignore for your friends becomes second nature to the bureaucratic tyrant.” ~ GraceG
two to Tutu too>>
Now that is actually one of the best meaningful alliterative devices I have seen in a long time.
And so you deserve this:
There was a Bishop called Tutu
who Nobelled himself for vous-vous.
When push came to shove
He pulled of his glove
Saying,” give two to Tutu too too!”
I have a hard time believing that our military allowed Mexican soldiers to disarm our military on US soil.
If so, triggers should soon be pulled and we can send in the US Marines to secure a 5 mile zone South of the present border.
They give us an inch , we take a mile.
The full force of the Dept of "Justice" moves at the speed of lightning when it wants to. A rich Hollywood actress is facing 40 years for bribing people to get her kid into USC.
Lori Loughlin could now face up to 40 years in jail after new charges
She is guilty of bribing people, but so what? Colleges and Universities have so perverted they admission system that we have illiterates being given a free ride because of their skin color. The rich have been "donating" to colleges and universities for centuries. Throwing her in prison for 4 decades does nothing for the Republic.
How many years has it now been when it was obvious that Hillary, Obama, and the cabal had committed espionage, treason, theft, conspiracy, and worse?
And what has been done so far. Nothing.
Oh sure, "just you wait! You'll see!"
Hey, if the entire cabal gets thrown into GITMO, I'll high five everyone here.
I just don't believe it anymore.
Not punish them, just fire them or transfer them to another agency.Nothing tainted with being part of the current FBI should be permitted in a new FBI.
OK
Thank You
He [Larry Mitchell Hopkins aka Johnny Horton] has a long arrest record, dating back to at least 1986, when he was arrested and convicted of the felony of false pretenses, or fraud, in Midland County, Michigan.
Decades later, in 2006, Hopkins was arrested in Klamath County, Oregon on charges of impersonating a police officer and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
https://heavy.com/news/2019/04/larry-mitchell-hopkins/
So, it appears as though our "dangerous felon" became a felon by committing fraud, and then lore enfarcement was able to continue ramping up charges on him when he insisted on carrying firearms in subsequent years.
Leading to the Lying Liar Attorney General of New Mexico (D-Mehican Drug Cartels) being able to smear Hopkins as ...a dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families.
AG Hector Balderdash is full of Mitt.
He [Larry Mitchell Hopkins aka Johnny Horton] has a long arrest record, dating back to at least 1986, when he was arrested and convicted of the felony of false pretenses, or fraud, in Midland County, Michigan.
Decades later, in 2006, Hopkins was arrested in Klamath County, Oregon on charges of impersonating a police officer and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
https://heavy.com/news/2019/04/larry-mitchell-hopkins/
So, it appears as though our "dangerous felon" became a felon by committing fraud, and then lore enfarcement was able to continue ramping up charges on him when he insisted on carrying firearms in subsequent years.
Leading to the Lying Liar Attorney General of New Mexico (D-Mehican Drug Cartels) being able to smear Hopkins as ...a dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families.
AG Hector "I'm In The Pocket Of The Drug Cartels!" Balderdash is full of Mitt.
Not hard to become a “felon” these days.
I guess he has to be kept away from women and children, for fear he might commit fraud in front of them./s
In Robin Hood’s legendary days, all the “felons” who failed to pay the taxes imposed by Richard I and collected by Prince John in his absence, took to the forests to evade the Sheriff whose office was purchased from one or the other. Were they “vigilantes,” too?
Hopkins probably did some “aggravated felony jay-walking / littering”, too.
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