Federal courthouse evacuated ahead of hearing for militia leader

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal courthouse has been evacuated ahead of a hearing for the leader of an armed group that detained asylum-seeking families near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The U.S. Marshals Service said it could not immediately provide information on why the courthouse had been cleared Monday. Attorneys and court officials exited and gathered in front of the courthouse in Albuquerque.

Larry Mitchell Hopkins, the militia leader who has been indicted on a weapons charge, was escorted out of the courtroom where he had been waiting to appear before a magistrate judge for a detention hearing.

He faces weapons charges stemming from a 2017 visit by an FBI agent to his home in northwestern New Mexico.

He was arrested April 20 in Sunland Park, New Mexico.