F.B.I. Arrests Leader of Right-Wing Militia That Detained Migrants in New Mexico
Officials said on Saturday that they had arrested the leader of the United Constitutional Patriots, a right-wing militia that had been detaining migrants and turning them over to Border Patrol.CreditCreditPaul Ratje/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Ex-PH2 sends us Skippy’s link about some folks who may have had their hearts in the right place, but their brains were in a different time zone.
By Simon Romero
ALBUQUERQUE — The F.B.I. on Saturday arrested the leader of a right-wing militia that was detaining migrant families at gunpoint near the border in southern New Mexico, as the group faced a torrent of criticism for its tactics.
Hector Balderas, New Mexico’s attorney general, said federal agents had arrested the leader, Larry Mitchell Hopkins, who had been operating under the alias Johnny Horton Jr. Mr. Balderas said in a statement that Mr. Hopkins was arrested on charges of firearms possession by a felon.
“This is a dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families,” Mr. Balderas said. “Today’s arrest by the F.B.I. indicates clearly that the rule of law should be in the hands of trained law enforcement officials, not armed vigilantes.”
The firearms charge against Mr. Hopkins is relatively minor. But it is likely the start of a deeper investigation into his activities and those of the militia, and opens the way for the authorities to bring more serious charges like kidnapping and impersonating a police officer or an employee of the United States.
Mr. Hopkins’s arrest comes as tensions rise over ultraconservative paramilitary groups operating along the southwestern border. Professed militias have a long history of targeting immigrants from Latin America, tracing back to the Ku Klux Klan’s creation of its own border patrol in the 1970s. Record numbers of Central American migrants apprehended by federal authorities in recent months have been accompanied by a new surge in militia activity on the border.
Felon in possession of a firearm? Kidnapping and impersonating, this not-so-bright crew had best ‘lawer’ up most ricky-tick. The rest of the article my be viewed here: New York Times. NYT is a metered site, which is why Ex sent the link to me, so use your own judgement if you want to continue reading the article.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", Crime, Guest Link, Illegal Immigrants, Legal, Police
He’s gonna be popular in the pen with those Hispanic gangs, especially when they find out who he his and what he did to get his ass thrown in the clink.
That didn’t take long:
http://news.trust.org/item/20190424121135-e0bd6
Actually, that came from Skippy, not me, so please give him the credit for it. Thanks!!!
I don’t need credit but thank you
I sent you another link about US Soldiers surrendering their Arms
That has this area going bananas right now
I always try to attribute the source, Skippy. You’re not getting off that easy.
*grin*
👍👍 🐰
teh stoooopid is strong in this one. Agree that heart is in the right place but his brain must be inside his 4th point of contact.
There is a right way and a wrong way to try to help LEOs or Border Patrol folks. He chose the wrong way. Prison would not be a very pleasant place for him to be in. HMCS (FMF) ret is spot on.
“right-wing militia”
Is there a left wing milita?
How bout a centrist militia?
Gotta be a LGBLT militia somewhere.
This guy belongs in the old fat felon militia.
Violent leftist organizations who do planned and coordinated violent riot stuff are “spontaneous peaceful protests”.
Didn’t you get the memo?
Plus, you can usually ID them by their black clothing, masks, and professionally printed signs. Also, you will know their presence when hit in the head with a bike lock at one of their “peaceful protests.”
When this comes out all the way a lot of the faces will be familiar
It’s like a Oregon get together… FYI it’s really bad down here but
The lame stream media is on blackout mode with what’s going on
They just declared a state of emergency here in otero country New Mexico
Because we have 30,000 plus people here right now from Central America
I wonder when trump is going to use his powers of his state of emergency
To stop this bullshit we are already feed up with his promise to do something
So are most of the BP folks down here
From what I’ve been reading and hearing, this is why Nielsen got asked to resign.
Time will tell.
You can see it in this photo, but there’s better photos that make it more clear, he’s wearing a 5th Special Forces Group Vietnam vet hat. Any word on what his claims are versus reality? I’d be willing to wager he was not a quiet professional in the Viet of the Nam.
I was wondering this too, but I’d be surprised if Shipley digs into this one.
5th Group has nothing to do with SEALs, Shipley’s bailiwick.
It’s Very Rare that Shipley does anything other than SEALs. Unlike most SV guys he can pull up the data base in Seconds and throw the BS flag.
If someone really pisses him off he’ll get the FOIA on their service.
Shipley is working on his place and holding Charity Hunts and events. He’s busy as a one legged man at a rat-stomp with that.
Ditto. Someone should refer him to the Green Beret poser exposer outfit.
Wow. Who knew gun laws worked? I thought we needed more.
Word ^^^^
Tell the folks in Northfield Minnesota, circa 1876
The NM AG’s rhetoric is insipid.
“This is a dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families,” Mr. Balderas said. “Today’s arrest by the F.B.I. indicates clearly that the rule of law should be in the hands of trained law enforcement officials, not armed vigilantes.
And Eric Holder was, during the Obama regime, the Chief US LEO. Yeah, right
I guess that the NM AG never heard about Eric Holder’s brainchild “Operation Fast and Furious”?
They are not “migrants”. They are illegal aliens.
From the sounds of thing’s, some of these “migrants” might have been Hector’s relatives, just saying.
That this clown was a felon with a firearm is pretty fucking stupid on his part. But I can understand why you might get tired of thousands of people just invading the country and wreaking havoc on your property while they try to sort out what they intend to do after getting here illegally.
If he hadn’t been a felon with a gun I’d be inclined if I were on the jury to refuse to convict him.
The level of corruption in our government is rapidly approaching a point where we either choose to act or choose to ride the train the short distance left to the end of line for all personal liberties and we end like the euro wienies and the fucking Brits where the cops post on Facebook the words you can’t use lest you be arrested for voicing an inappropriate opinion.
He is stupid. Apparently he is a convicted felon and in possession of a firearm he is not permitted to own or use. Regardless of the fairness of some laws about reinstating gun rights of someone who has served a prison sentence and completed parole, he knows his limits. Now, groups like his are doing what our government should be doing so I dont fault his intentions. Seems like they were merely detaining, without mistreating, migrants. But, if involved in high visibility activity you have to be squeaky clean. He is not.
I am in favor of citizen groups detaining these people and turning them over to the border patrol.
The government is not doing the job well enough.
As others have said, he was high visibility and should have had the sense to let others carry the firearms.
Pro tips: Felons shouldn’t do this, stolen valor isn’t cool either.