Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 4-26-19

Politcal News
Leader Of Militia Detaining Migrants Allegedly Said Group Trained To Assassinate Soros, Clinton And Obama
Feds Charge Florida Man With Making Death Threats To Omar, Tlaib and Booker
A Florida man has been charged with making death threats against prominent Demo- cratic officials, including Sen. Cory Booker, and Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and spewing hateful invective against blacks, Muslims and immigrants in a series of phone calls.
John Kless, 49, of the Fort Lauderdale area, faces up to five years in prison if convicted on charges of making an interstate threat, the Washington Post re- ports. He was expected to be re- leased Friday on $25,000 bond and weapons he owned had been seized, the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida told the Post.
According to the criminal com- plaint, Kless first called the of- fice of California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell on Tues- day, ranting in a voicemail about gun control, immigration, and 9/11, and telling Swalwell he was “gonna die.”
Kless then made subse-
Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib
quent phone calls to the offices of Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Booker (D-N.J.), authorities said, leaving voicemails in which he ranted about Omar, calling the Min- nesota Democrat the pejorative “towel head” and Tlaib “Tal- iban,” and calling Booker “nig- ger.”
While death threats against public officials are not unheard of, in the age of Donald Trump, hate crimes are on the rise, researchers have found.
And Omar, one of the first Muslim women to serve in Con- gress (Tlaib is the other), has been a real target of late for Is- lamophobic attacks.
A leader of a New Mexico militia that has been detaining migrant families at the U. S.- Mexico border said the group was "training to assassinate George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama," according to an FBI agent's sworn deposition de- scribing reports phoned into the agency's public tip line.
Larry Mitchell Hop- kins, 69, who was arrested Saturday on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, made an initial appearance in federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Monday.
Hopkins remains in cus- tody pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hear- ing April 29 in Albuquerque, according to the FBI and the U. S. attorney's office.
Hopkins, who also goes by the alias Johnny Horton Jr., has been described as the
Hopkins, also known as 'Striker,' the leader of the Constitutional Patriots militia, speaks with Viper, right, about logistics in Anapra, New Mexico, on March 20.
"commander" of the United Constitutional Patriots, a mili- tia group that has recently been detaining asylum-seeking families at the southern bor- der, drawing outcry from local politicians and activists.
In an affidavit filed Saturday
in support of Hopkins' arrest, the FBI agent said that in Oc- tober 2017, the agency's public access line received reports of "alleged militia extremist activ- ity" in Flora Vista, New Mex- ico, based out of Hopkins’ home, with the group being supported by about 20 mem- bers who were "armed with AK-47 rifles and other firearms."
"Hopkins also allegedly made the statement that the United Constitutional Patriots were training to assassinate George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama, because of these indi- viduals' support of Antifa," the complaint said, referring to so- called anti-fascist activists.
It was not clear when and to whom Hopkins made these statements. Hopkins' attor- ney, Kelly O’Connell, said his client denies the allega- tions.
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