Across the country, Donald Trump’s racist and xenophobic anti-immigration rhetoric is dividing people and legitimizing the radical far-right. Larry Hopkins, a 69-year-old felon with a prior felony conviction for impersonating a police officer, is one of those far-right nut jobs. His anti-immigrant leanings led him to terrorize brown people at the border, leading an armed militia to illegally detain migrants, including small children.
Larry Hopkins, the leader of an armed militia at the US-Mexico border, was attacked in jail and is now hospitalized with broken ribs according to his attorney.
Hopkins and his group were detaining migrants at the border before being ordered to leavehttps://t.co/TaWAhy1DPC
— Julio-Cesar Chavez (@JulioCesrChavez) April 24, 2019
When the FBI caught him, he was charged with possessing a firearm and ammunition, both of which he is prohibiting from owning as a provision of his felon status. Following his arrest, it appears he’s having a hard time making friends in jail.
Reuters reports that:
‘Larry Hopkins, 69, was in a hospital with broken ribs after being attacked on Tuesday at the Dona Ana County Detention Center in Las Cruces in southern New Mexico, attorney Kelly O’Connell said.’
Larry Hopkins, the head of the militia group that has been detaining migrants at the border who was charged with possession of a firearm as a felon, told the FBI that his militia was planning to assassinate Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and George Soros. https://t.co/fPNMmBrMgk
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 23, 2019
Hopkins now awaits his day in court in a hospital with broken ribs thanks to the incident, which is unsurprising considering his personal views on minorities. Hopkins defended his right to terrorize unarmed people with military-grade weaponry, saying he was acting within his rights as an American since the migrant children he threatened and detained were breaking the law. That law, according to Hopkins, must not apply to white men like himself.
Hopkins’ militia group is now being disbanded after claiming that they have detained more than 5,000 migrants in recent months.
‘The attack occurred the same day Hopkins’ United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) group abandoned its border camp near Sunland Park, New Mexico, where they had spent two months detaining thousands of illegal migrants.’
The FBI arrested Larry Hopkins, who runs The United Constitutional Patriots, an armed militia group that spreads far-right conspiracies and rounds up asylum seekers on the border. He was charged with possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon. https://t.co/aSbCnvbta7
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) April 21, 2019
Hopkins’ hatred didn’t stop at brown migrants, however. Further investigations are ongoing into his plans to assassinate President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It is his racist leanings in particular, however, that ran him afoul of activist groups who shone a spotlight on his criminal behavior at the border.
‘The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last week accused Hopkins’ group of being a fascist, white nationalist militia illegally detaining and kidnapping Central American families seeking asylum.’
The leader of an armed group illegally arresting migrants at the border has been arrested. His group claims it has detained 5,600 people in 2 months.
The FBI says Larry Hopkins has 2 prior convictions and talked about training to assassinate Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. pic.twitter.com/Cbg3QV0WA6
— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 22, 2019
Featured image screenshot via YouTube