Trump's trash at work...
Border Vigilante Was Accused of Running Child-Cancer Charity Scam
United Constitutional Patriots livestreams grabbing migrants at the border. Its spokesman has a shady past.
Nick R. Martin
05.22.19 5:29 AM ET
For the past few months, Jim Benvie has played the role of a wannabe cop in the New Mexico borderlands.
He wears a badge with the words “Fugitive Recovery Agent.” He refers to Border Patrol agents as his “backup.” He claims to be protecting America from a “criminal invasion” at the nation’s southwestern border.
All the while, he’s been facing a criminal charge of his own in another state.
Benvie is the appointed spokesman for a group of Trump-loving border vigilantes previously known as the United Constitutional Patriots, which recently renamed itself Guardian Patriots. The group earned widespread notoriety last month because of videos Benvie livestreamed to Facebook, showing his armed crew harassing and apprehending migrants.
The vigilante group was kicked off PayPal and GoFundMe as a result, but it is still attempting to raise money for its efforts in other ways. Now, court documents reviewed by The Daily Beast raise serious questions about Benvie’s background in fundraising.
He was arrested in an incident in which police said he was fraudulently claiming to be collecting cash for a child with cancer and was allegedly in possession of a stolen rental truck, according to the court records. Benvie was subsequently charged with stealing the truck, though prosecutors did not charge him regarding the charity work.
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Inside the truck, police found a “Make America Great Again” hat along with some garbage and two duffel bags filled with clothing. They also found pamphlets that read “Help Ryan Beat Cancer,” which depicted a boy with a scar on his head. Some of the pamphlets were old. Others were new.
“I asked Benvie about the pamphlets,” Bruning wrote in the affidavit. “He stated it was real and that he was raising money for the child. But again was unable to give a name.”
After arresting him, the lieutenant found two GoFundMe pages that appeared to have been started by Benvie, each under a different variation of his name. The first was called “Join Ryans Flight Crew” and the other was called “Bella Walk A Thon,” according to the affidavit.
The Daily Beast was able to locate a GoFundMe campaign by a Christopher Benvie, his middle name, titled “Bella’s Walk-A-Thon,” which had raised $343 and was no longer active. The other page could not be found.
The lieutenant was clearly skeptical of Benvie’s charity claims. Bruning went as far in the affidavit as writing that “it’s believed that Benvie was committing fraud by collecting donations for [a] child with cancer that he was unable to provide any information about.”
more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/border-vigilante-jim-benvie-was-accused-of-running-child-cancer-charity-scam?via=newsletter&source=DDMorning
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