BREAKING: Judge in the #NMCompound case has been receiving various threats since her decision... now courthouse being evacuated. Unclear if jail where child abuse suspects are being held will be evacuated as well. #NMCompound@NBCNews
I’m being told the threats to judge include someone saying they were going to slit her throat.
So far the suspects remain inside the detention center- no word on how this will effect their release.
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In Taos for a detention hearing on the 5 suspects arrested at a NM compound. Suspects have walked into the courtroom. Hearing about to begin.
Prosecutors making an opening statement: Prosecutor says suspect Siraj Wahhaj took several firearms classes in rapid succession in 2015. In 2017 he made a trip to Saudi Arabia. When he came back he told his wife he wanted a divorce.
Prosecutors now discussing a rollover crash last year where several children were hospitalized. Siraj Wahhaj was armed and several other guns were found in addition to a bullet proof vest.
THREAD: This week we were given rare access inside the NM compound where authorities think children were getting weapons training to carry out school shootings. This is part of the tunnel that extends out from the property. @NBCNews
This is video provided to us showing a side chamber where children were believed to have stayed - off to the right is a small escape opening.
This is the view from the end of the tunnel with a ladder leading up into the desert about 150 feet away from the compound
Elsa Ortiz Enriquez is over 1500 miles away from her 8 year old son Anthony. SHE WAS DEPORTED TO GUATEMALA WITHOUT HIM. Now, he is somewhere in Texas, and she just wants to hear his voice again.
Elsa crossed the border with Anthony earlier this month. Her boyfriend paid for them to be smuggled across the river in a raft near Reynosa so they could come join him in Virginia. They were quickly caught by Border Patrol.
She says at first they were kept together in a “Hielera” but they were together. She says while in detention, one guard would make fun of them and try to humiliate her in front of Anthony. She says he would tell her they would be separated & Anthony would be put up for adoption.
We’re about to head into another detention shelter for immigrant children separated from families. This one much different from the former Walmart @jacobsoboroff showed us earlier this week. No cameras allowed in but our reports coming up @MSNBC@NBCNightlyNews@allinwithchris
So, the first thing children who are brought here are told is that this is not a detention center. — Even though they are not allowed to leave. Don’t know when they will be freed. And get 2 phone calls to family a week. Those calls can’t be longer than 10 minutes.
The first thing we were shown is this bell that is supposed to give kids hope... but seemed really haunting. we weren’t allowed to take pictures. But here’s what it said in Spanish.