United Constitutional Patriots

Jim Benvie, a spokesman for the group, said in April 2019 they were present in New Mexico "to support the Border Patrol and show the public the reality of the border." The group intends to remain in the area until the Mexico–United States border wall has been built, or Congress passes stronger immigration laws to make seeking asylum more difficult. It runs an online radio show on which its members offer support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. The SPLC has documented other rumours and conspiracy theories the group espouses, such as the migrant caravans being an invading army, a means of Muslim militants gaining entry into the US or that the caravans are funded by George Soros. UCP has a rivalry with other armed groups on the border. Horton has said his group is armed for their own self-defense. In mid-April 2019, a video was released online of the group detaining 200 migrants at gunpoint on the US-Mexico border near Sunland Park, New Mexico. The group has had an encampment in the area since November 2018, and claims to have detained 3,000 migrants in all. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) believes the UCP is a product of the "vile racism" of the Trump administration that "has emboldened white nationalists and fascists to flagrantly violate the law." The group's claim that it is performing "citizen's arrests" has been dismissed by Peter Simonson, the executive director of ACLU in New Mexico, because they are allowable only for a felony. Illegal entry to the country, according to Simonson, is legally classed only as a misdemeanor. ==Larry Mitchell Hopkins==

Hopkins has multiple criminal convictions. At the time of his arrest, he claimed to be working directly under President George W. Bush. His uniform, similar to a police officer's, had a "Special Agent" emblem on it, but the precise nature of his claimed investigations were never consistent. An earlier felony involving Hopkins occurred in Michigan in 1996. The FBI visited his New Mexico home in 2017 after they received reports his group was training in the state's northwest to assassinate Hillary Clinton, President Obama and George Soros "because of these individuals support" of the Antifa movement, he is said to have claimed. These details were later stated in an affidavit from an FBI special agent, but Hopkins lawyer Kelly O’Connell said her client had indicated these details were untrue. The FBI has not said why it did not bring charges against Hopkins in 2017. Hopkins appeared in Federal District Court on April 22 charged with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. Preliminary and detention hearing were scheduled for April 29 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but a bomb threat resulted in the court having to be cleared moments before the hearing. Hopkins pled guilty to "being a felon in possession of a firearm" on January 2, 2020. Then aged 70, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison. ==Jim Benvie==

The group's spokesman, Jim Benvie (born James Christopher Benvie), split from the UCP in May 2019 and formed his own militia group, the Guardian Patriots; the UCP lost about half its members. Benvie was arrested in Oklahoma and indicted in New Mexico the following month accused of impersonating a border patrol official the previous April. A video created by Benvie was used as evidence. Benvie, identified as being 45 at the time, was convicted and jailed for 21 months (plus a year of monitored parole) in October 2020. == References ==