Member of armed 'militia' that detained migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border faces jail time after he was 'caught impersonating a federal employee in his own Facebook Live streams'
- James Christopher Benvie posted Facebook live videos on both April 15 and 17
- In one he appears to ask migrants: 'US Border Patrol. What are you guys doing?'
- Another clip days later allegedly shows him identifying as border patrol again
- Benvie must stop associating with the border group and find a job, a judge ruled
- He must also wear a GPS device and stay at least 10 miles away from the border
- Benvie was a spokesman for a group called the United Constitutional Patriots before becoming a spokesman for a splinter group called the Guardian Patriots
- The group drew widespread criticism after posts showing masked men in combat fatigues chasing migrants and ordering them to stay put
A member of the armed 'militia' that detained migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border faces jail time after he was allegedly caught impersonating a federal employee in his own Facebook Live streams.
James Christopher Benvie, 44, of Albany, Minnesota, posted videos on his page on April 15 and 17 of encounters with people crossing the border.
In one Benvie appears to shout 'stop' in Spanish at a group of six people from El Salvador, before adding: 'US Border Patrol. What are you guys doing?'
Another clip posted two days later again appears to show him shouting 'stop' in Spanish before telling people to sit on the dirt, Buzzfeed News reports.
He is said to add: 'Border Patrol. Right, right.'
A federal judge ruled Tuesday the border militia spokesman, who often wears camouflage and a badge that reads 'Fugitive Recovery Agent', will be released to a halfway house in New Mexico while he faces charges that he impersonated a federal agent there.
Benvie will be conditionally released to Las Cruces, once authorities find a place for him.
Benvie was a spokesman for a group called the United Constitutional Patriots before becoming a spokesman for a splinter group called the Guardian Patriots. He often wears camouflage and a badge that reads 'Fugitive Recovery Agent'
In one clip Benvie appears to ask migrants: 'US Border Patrol. What are you guys doing?'
Another clip days later allegedly shows him identifying as border patrol again
Conditions imposed by Magistrate Judge Shon Erwin include that Benvie must stop associating with the border group and find a job, wear a GPS monitoring device and stay at least 10 miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border.
A grand jury in New Mexico indicted Benvie last week on two counts of impersonating a Border Patrol agent in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, on April 15 and 17.
The FBI arrested Benvie on Friday outside the Logan County Courthouse in Guthrie Oklahoma, where he had appeared to face other state charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to obtain money by false pretenses.
Prosecutors alleged Benvie was a flight risk and a danger to the community and asked that he be detained while facing the New Mexico charges.
But Erwin said he did not consider Benvie a flight risk because he has appeared for his court hearings on the state charges. The judge also said he does not consider Benvie particularly dangerous because he doesn't carry a weapon and he has never made specific threats.
James Christopher Benvie will be released to a halfway house in New Mexico while he faces charges that he impersonated a federal agent there
Prosecutors presented a 12-minute video narrated by Benvie and recorded at an undisclosed location along the southwestern border with Mexico.
In the recording, Benvie complains that a gate in a privately funded border wall meant to keep immigrants from crossing into the U.S. illegally had been locked open in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union.
'We're not going to let this happen. We're going to fight,' Benvie says in the video. 'We're not going to let this gate stay open. They want war, they're going to get war.'
Benvie was a spokesman for a group called the United Constitutional Patriots before becoming a spokesman for a splinter group called the Guardian Patriots.
United Constitutional Patriots drew widespread criticism after frequent social media posts showing masked men in combat fatigues chasing migrants and ordering them to stay put until border agents arrive.
Videos capture agents taking migrants into custody. The group was thrown out of its camp for trespassing in Sunland Park, New Mexico, near El Paso, Texas.
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Benvie, who appeared at the hearing in a jail-issued jumpsuit and handcuffs, will remain in custody in Oklahoma until he is moved to the halfway house in New Mexico
Armed civilian groups on the border have portrayed themselves as auxiliaries to the Border Patrol off and on for years. But videos show U.S. authorities keeping them at a distance while also responding to reports of people illegally entering the country.
Benvie's court-appointed attorney, Bill Earley, said Benvie 'considers himself a citizen reporter' who agrees with the views expressed by President Donald Trump that illegal immigration is 'a national crisis.'
'He's just exposing what he feels is a flawed system,' Earley said.
Judge Erwin said that in spite of the inflammatory language, the video seemed more like a fundraising tool and at one point referred to Benvie as 'a con man.'
'In some ways this is a First Amendment case,' the judge said. 'I don't think of the video as being particularly incendiary.'
Benvie, who appeared at the hearing in a jail-issued jumpsuit and handcuffs, will remain in custody in Oklahoma until he is moved to the halfway house in New Mexico. Erwin set Benvie's bond at $5,000 and ordered him to report to federal authorities in New Mexico once he is relocated.
