Larry Mitchell Hopkins is the leader of an armed militia group detaining migrants on the border between New Mexico and Mexico. He was arrested Monday on a weapons charge. He hasn’t entered a plea yet. Today, reports say Hopkins told the FBI he was plotting to assassinate President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and George Soros in 2017. His militia, the United Constitutional Patriots, has been detaining hundreds of migrants near Sunland Park, New Mexico. The group claims the arrests are legal, but the New Mexico ACLU disagrees.
What we know about the United Constitutional Patriots, the militia group detaining migrants at the border
New bollard-style U.S.-Mexico border fencing is seen in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, U.S., March 5, 2019. Photo credit: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
Credits
Guest:
Alicia Caldwell - immigration reporter, Wall Street Journal
Host:
Madeleine Brand
Producers:
Sarah Sweeney,
Michell Eloy,
Yael Even Or,
Alexandra Sif Tryggvadottir,
Caitlin Plummer,
Rosalie Atkinson,
Rebecca Mooney,
Amy Ta