Border Vigilantes
Citizens on Patrol
This April in Sunland Park, New Mexico, nearly 300 asylum-seeking migrants were detained by armed members of a right-wing civilian “border security” patrol. The group proudly filmed and distributed footage online, bringing new attention to a subculture of homegrown militia groups who believe the Constitution allows or compels them to “assist” government border enforcement agencies. Accounts differ as to how much the government appreciates the help, but these vigilante movements have existed since the borders have.
The United States Border Patrol was founded in 1924 and initially had two main offices for the two borders, one in El Paso, Texas and one in Detroit, Michigan. The department’s stated purpose was to stop “illegal entries”, focusing on Mexican and Asian immigrants in particular, but much of its focus was on smuggling, which at the time meant Prohibition enforcement.
The Border Patrol still exists under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security and has expanded considerably, but not all Americans are satisfied that the government alone is up to the task of enforcing immigration laws. On YouTube, one can find thousands of videos concerning citizen border militias, made by them, and openly recruiting for them. They wear camouflage and carry modified weapons and gadgets that glow green as they perform nightly patrols. Many are led by or composed of veterans, though those that aren’t often present that appearance.
Several border protection-oriented militias subscribe to the larger “3-percenter” ideology. This refers to the concept that only 3% of the population needed to serve in Washington’s Army during the Revolutionary War to achieve victory, a claim considered incorrect by historians. Nonetheless, the guiding spirit of the movement is one of a well-armed and autonomous citizenry, specifically one powerful enough to overthrow its government.
Operation Secure Our Border, one 3% militia, formed quickly in 2014 through online recruitment and merged roughly a dozen smaller operations before meeting to inspect the border along the Rio Grande. Previously credited with participation in Cliven Bundy’s standoff with the federal government, the militia’s leader Chris Davis faced criticism for a YouTube video in which he recommends threatening migrants at gunpoint.
The Minuteman Project, another Revolution-inspired band of armed private citizens, may have been the largest modern-era vigilante collective to assume the responsibility of monitoring the southern border. Founded in 2004 and now dissolved, the Project consisted of over 1,000 volunteers who headed to the Arizona-Mexico border largely to observe and count any migrants passing through. The movement grew considerably before splitting apart into many subgroups covering the entire southern border.
In 2007, Shawna Forde and Jason Bush created the offshoot Minuteman American Defense. It was short lived and ended catastrophically as they began with almost nothing and planned to gain funding through numerous and extreme criminal exploits, in the end effectively poisoning the Minuteman “brand”. In the course of a scheme to rob who they believed to be marijuana traffickers, Forde, Bush, and an accomplice murdered a man and his 9-year-old daughter. The two founders were sentenced to death.
2019
The “citizen’s arrest” incident in Sunland Park was precipitated by the United Constitutional Patriots, a vigilante militia group helmed by Larry Mitchell Hopkins. Hopkins, a musician who claims to have a long personal friendship with Donald Trump, commands the UCP from his Flora Vista, New Mexico home. After a 2017 call to an FBI tip-line alleging “extremist activity at the property, a search was conducted finding numerous firearms including AK-47s and evidence of about 20 active militia members. In the same complaint, it was alleged that Hopkins had spoken of training his men to kill former President Obama and investor George Soros.
The UCP’s membership decreased since the raid(perhaps to under 10), however, their activity increased drastically. Stating their intention to remain in place along the border until President Trump’s proposed border wall is completed, in April the group posted another of a series of videos to YouTube documenting their efforts to catch and detain migrants in New Mexico.
In that 41 minute video, UCP vigilantes detain a group of nearly 300 migrants at gunpoint before handing them over to Border Patrol officials, who at one point leave a small group of women and children with the militia while processing others. In spite of this, the New Mexico Attorney General’s office acted quickly to condemn the detention stating “These individuals should not attempt to exercise authority reserved for law enforcement.”
Little was done in the following days as the rules of citizen’s arrest were debated and border officials grappled with the seeming encouragement some among their ranks displayed toward the militia. On April 20th, however, Larry Mitchell Hopkins was arrested on several federal charges for possessing firearms as a convicted felon and later assaulted while in custody. Jim Benvie, a spokesman for the UCP and one of the roughly half dozen members remaining, insists the charges against their “National Commander” will be dismissed.
With the continued rise of nationalist sentiment in the United States and a multitude of social media recruitment venues, there may be more vigilante actors willing to engage at the southern border than ever before.
© 2019; Matt Warrener. All Rights Reserved
