Border group leader injured in New Mexico jail altercation
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Authorities say the leader of a civilian group that has detained asylum-speaking migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border was injured while he was jailed in New Mexico, after being arrested on federal weapons charges.
The Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday in a statement that 69-year-old Larry Hopkins was transferred Tuesday out of the county jail after suffering non-life threatening injuries Monday night.
The statement did not provide specifics on the “alleged battery” in which Hopkins was injured in Las Cruces, but Hopkins’ lawyer, Kelly O’Connell, told the Albuquerque Journal that his client was hospitalized for rib injuries following an altercation.
The FBI arrested Hopkins on a federal complaint accusing him of being a felon in illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
O’Connell has said Hopkins will plead not guilty.