UPDATE 2-Bomb threat targets New Mexico court where leader of armed group faces charges

A bomb threat prompted security officers on Monday to evacuate the courthouse where the leader of a paramilitary group that has detained undocumented migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border faces federal weapons charges. Larry Hopkins, commander of the United Constitutional Patriots, has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm after the FBI said it found guns during a 2017 visit to his home.

Moments before Hopkins was to stand and face U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen, a U.S. Marshal walked towards him, motioned to him to get up and cleared the courtroom. "There's been a bomb threat, all of you have to evacuate," the marshal said.

Hopkins, 69, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 20, days after the American Civil Liberties Union accused the group of illegally detaining migrants, and New Mexico's Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said its activities must cease. Hopkins appeared relaxed before the evacuation, and sat leaning back in his chair in handcuffs. (Reporting by Andrew Hay, Editing by Scott Malone and James Dalgleish)