Border patrol agents who were falsely accused of “whipping” Haitian migrants as they attempted to illegally enter the US last September are set to be disciplined by the Department of Homeland Security.
The footage was circulated of agents on horseback allegedly striking fleeing migrants with ‘whips’ as they patrolled the Del Rio, Texas section of the border last summer.
The claims the officials had used the whips to hit the Haitians were soon debunked, and the truth was revealed that the horsemen had been using long reins to control the horses and were ‘herding’ the migrants, but no one was struck at any point. The agents were simply doing their job.
Despite the truth, the footage had already gone viral on social media, and the liberal left media including ABC, CBS, and NBC immediately accused border patrol of violence towards the migrants – a claim they have never retracted or amended. President Joe Biden couldn’t help but join in, vowing to “make them pay”.
For all you Twitter warriors out there: these are NOT whips. And no, Border Patrol agents are NOT “whipping” people.
They are REINS… Stay with us here, like a steering wheel is used to drive a car, the reins are used to “drive” the horse.
Thanks for coming to our TED talk. pic.twitter.com/r0n2kXHqvy
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) September 21, 2021
Before any investigation had even begun, the president said people at the border were being “strapped”, adding:
“It was horrible to see, to see people treated like they did, with horses nearly running them over.
“It’s outrageous. I promise you those people will pay. There will be an investigation underway now and there will be consequences. There will be consequences. It’s an embarrassment.
“But beyond an embarrassment is dangerous, it’s wrong, it sends the wrong message around the world, and sends the wrong message at home. It’s simply not who we are,” he said.
The White House promptly ordered that border patrol agents would no longer be able to chase illegal immigrants on horseback, so presumably, they’ll now have to get their running shoes on and pursue them on foot – or perhaps the president would rather patrol agents are paid to simply high-five migrants as they saunter across the border?
Because the DHS was unable to pin any criminal charge on the agents involved in the incident in November, the department is now, months later, saying that agency will face an investigation for “administrative violations”.
The Border Patrol’s Office of Personnel Responsibility has spent months reviewing footage and photographs of the incident, but so far there still seems to be absolutely no evidence of patrol agents hitting, striking, or being violent to migrants in any way.
Photographer Paul Ratje, who took some of the photographs that were circulated on social media and in the media said he didn’t see anyone being whipped:
“I’ve never seen them whip anyone,” he told KTSM-TV.
Instead, he said the horsemen were swinging long reins around the horses as they chased the uncooperative migrants. None of them were, according to Raje holding whips or striking the Haitians:
“He was swinging it, but it can be misconstrued when you’re looking at the picture”, explained Ratje, who captured the images of the border patrol agents from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River, which hordes of the migrants were attempting to cross.
A federal government source told Fox the latest attempt to condemn the agents will be officially announced within a few days.
This story syndicated with permission from Jo Marney, Author at Trending Politics
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