Militia Guy Mad About "Illegals" Gets Arrested for Doing Lots of Illegal Stuff
Last week, a New Mexico militia released shocking video, showing nearly 300 migrants held at gunpoint by the self-appointed border enforcers. The United Constitutional Patriots have been patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border for months now, claiming that they're supporting a stretched-too-thin Customs and Border Protection Agency.
Since the video went viral though, CBP has disavowed that support, stating 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." The militia's accounts have also been suspended from crowdfunding platforms, and their leader has been arrested for being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
In the videos and photos that the group has shared, many members of the militia can be seen dressing like law enforcement, even carrying fake badges. "If [immigrants] can't tell the difference," self-identified "commander" Mark Cheney told BuzzFeed News, "that's their problem." The same tactic led to Larry Mitchell Hopkins, the leader of the United Constitutional Patriots, to get arrested back in 2006, when he was accused of impersonating a law enforcement officer. According to The New York Times, Oregon police "found him showing guns to teenagers in a gas-station parking lot while wearing a police-style uniform and a badge emblazoned with the words 'Special Agent.'"
It turns out Hopkins has a long history of running afoul of the law, according to the New York Times. In South Dakota in 2009, he was indicted for failing to pay child support. In Michigan in 1996, he was charged with felony possession of a loaded firearm and sentenced to up to two years in jail. And in 2017, he caught the attention of the FBI because his militia was reportedly preparing for assassination attempts on both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. So much for law and order.
As shocking as those details are, none of it is a terribly surprising considering that rightwing violence is the biggest domestic terror threat in the U.S. Immigration hardliners in the U.S. often qualify that they're opposed simply to illegal immigration. But it's clear that their real complaint is with the "immigration" part of the phrase.
