Leader of militia that detained migrants is attacked in jail

[CatWoman]

Source: NBC News

The leader of a militia group that had been detaining asylum-seekers in New Mexico at gunpoint was beaten in jail, according to the man’s lawyer and a sheriff’s department.

Larry Hopkins, 69, was “jumped and beaten by fellow detainees,” according to a letter his lawyer sent to the jail on Wednesday. Hopkins, who also goes by the alias Johnny Horton Jr., was arrested Saturday on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Hopkins led the United Constitutional Patriots, whose members, some armed, held migrants who had crossed the border with Mexico until Border Patrol agents arrived.

“I talked to him afterwards yesterday and he was beaten, bruised, injured, dazed — and thoroughly demoralized,” Attorney Kelly O’Connell wrote to the Doña Ana County Detention Center.

A spokesperson for the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Wednesday that an "alleged battery" at the county jail was under investigation.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/leader-armed-militia-detained-migrants-new-mexico-says-he-was-n998181?fbclid=IwAR1vmo_Jb__tYL89q4aavEL3W06zCPeRHzjW-IkzlPxVnvMTSPjPlWPNrAA

[pangaia]

1. "....and thoroughly demoralized," ..."

Well, I guess so.

[forgotmylogin]

2. If you go around pretending to be law enforcement, that won't make you popular in jail. (n/t)

[Chin music]

4. Boy, these tough 'hombres', just crumble.

Hope he's ok. He'll need to get rest bc, if past is prologue...this can just be called, 'the first time it happened.

[Perseus]

11. Don't you have to have morals to be demoralized?

How can that happen?

[pangaia]

13. He means depressed. Oh, wait, that was his problem to begin with...

[Gore1FL]

3. While I hesitate to applaud prison violence, I will go as far as to say,

If prison violence is going to exist, I would prefer it to happen to an asshole.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. Gee, that's a shame.

I thought he was a tough guy.

[keithbvadu2]

9. Tough guy against women and children.

[onethatcares]

28. when he has

an AR 15 in his hand and a bunch of buddies standing with him.

Yep, he's going to be in solitary for his own good soon.

[Aristus]

34. I agree. And that goes for the whole sorry lot of those soft-bellied, slack-muscled, bearded

limp-dick wannabes.

Take away their guns, and watch them crumble...

[mysteryowl]

6. I don't condone any violence in prison/jail

I would like to see America clean this up. I know people will enjoy the revenge and feel like it is justice, but....

[50 Shades Of Blue]

8. ITA! Jailers are obligated to keep all prisoners safe no matter how reprehensible they are.

[DrToast]

14. Completely agree. He should be protected for his trial.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

27. Agree. That could be anyone that ever gets arrested for any crime.

[stevesinpa]

30. i dont condone violence either

but perhaps the prison authorities were sending him hopes and prayers to keep him safe.

[walkingman]

7. Pay back is a 'muther

[RockRaven]

10. Prison violence is something we should take seriously, from a moral and policy standpoint... but

what did everyone think was going to happen? Probably exactly this.

[keithbvadu2]

12. Murder, robbery, child molesting - border patriots have some history

Murder, robbery, child molesting - border patriots have some history

“It really attracted a lot of people that had some pretty extreme issues,”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/minuteman-movement-border-crisis-simcox/

During the past four years, the Minuteman groups that defined conservative immigration policy during the mid-to-late-2000s have mostly self-destructed-sometimes spectacularly so. Founding Minuteman leaders are in prison, facing criminal charges, dead, or sidelined. “It really attracted a lot of people that had some pretty extreme issues,” says Juanita Molina, executive director of the Border Action Network, an advocacy group that provides aid to migrants in the desert. “We saw the movement implode on itself mostly because of that.” An analysis by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors right-wing extremist groups, found that the number of Minuteman groups in the Southwest had declined from 310 to 38 between 2010 and 2012.

[emmaverybo]

15. Well-deserved

And much prison violence is not. I keep thinking about these migrants, after all they have been through, the terror they must have experienced, and their children. He did the unspeakable and unforgivable.

[NCjack]

16. Beating in prison will likely make Hopkins meaner. nt

[left-of-center2012]

17. I'm guesssing he encountered a few hispanics who wanted to say 'hello'

at the Dona Ana County Detention Center
in Las Cruces, NM.

[2naSalit]

32. That was ny first thought...

also wonder how many of the cops are Hispanic too.

[Lulu KC]

18. Oh ouch really sorry you total creep

It's the same feeling when the lion ate the poacher. I'm getting used to this. There must be a word in German for it.

[captain jack]

19. Sometimes you gotta take the beating you were asking for. n/t

[onetexan]

20. yup, he got a taste of his own medicine

[JohnnyRingo]

21. His lawyer is trying to spring him.

Probably wants released on his signature or transferred closer to home.

Considering that, I'd take his injuries with a grain of salt until investigated. I certainly wouldn't take his attorney's word for it and it doesn't look like they are.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Civilian border group leader Larry Hopkins, 69, suffers rib injury in New Mexico jail 'altercation'

Civilian border group leader Larry Hopkins, 69, suffers rib injury in New Mexico jail 'altercation' after being arrested for illegal possession of firearms

By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER and REUTERS and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 11:56 EDT, 24 April 2019 | UPDATED: 17:03 EDT, 24 April 2019

The leader of an armed group that spent the past two months detaining migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, drawing condemnation from civil liberties advocates, has been hospitalized after he was attacked in jail, his attorney said.

Larry Hopkins, 69, was in a hospital with broken ribs Tuesday after being attacked at the Dona Ana County Detention Center in Las Cruces in southern New Mexico, attorney Kelly O'Connell said.

The Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday in a statement that Hopkins was transferred out of the county jail after suffering non-life threatening injuries Monday night.

'Hopkins was given medical attention for non life-threatening injuries,' a news release states. 'He was transferred out of the Doña Ana County Detention Center under the direction of the U.S. Marshals Service on Tuesday.'

More:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6955837/Leader-U-S-border-armed-group-attacked-jail-attorney.html

Sorry for the quality of the source, but the story was too enjoyable to ignore.

[lostnfound]

24. Transferred out? How about dropping him off in Guatemala, and let him walk home.?

[not_the_one]

36. He could catch the next "caravan" north....

[Judi Lynn]

38. He might be able to impress the citizens with tales of how he treated their relatives.

That man could use a little education, at long last in his life. Seeing the world the ones who need to flee have been living in would open his dirty old eyes for him.

[Fritz Walter]

23. Karma is real!

Maybe his fellow Patties could start a GoFundMe page. To buy him a new crying towel.

[EarthFirst]

25. Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes. nt

[blueinredohio]

26. Sending thoughts and prayers.

[keithbvadu2]

29. Good one!

[stevesinpa]

31. "united constitutional patriots"

perhaps this scumbag can use his jail time to study and learn what our constitution actually reads and stands for, and on the side learn what a patriot is.
besides that, someone tell his lawyer, his scumbag client is not a "detainee" he is a prisoner.

[2naSalit]

33. Two thoughts

Came to me almost simultaneously... First, he must have encountered some Hispanics in jail who knew about him; second, that maybe it's a ploy toy help his case.

[47of74]

35. He made his bed and can fucking well lie in the god damn thing now.

[reACTIONary]

37. We don't know what...

... he may have done to provoke this. Maybe nothing, but given his past behavior, he may have been being an asshole. when you're locked up in a cell with an asshole, you cant just turn your back and walk away. And complaining about it to the warden might not do any good.