(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Embattled Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas offered a rare moment of truth-telling during a press briefing Thursday by correcting a reporter who was propagating a debunked hoax about Border Patrol agents whipping Haitian migrants.
A reporter in the WH press briefing room just once again pushed the false claim/narrative that Haitian migrants were whipped by Border Patrol on horseback in Del Rio. Mayorkas, to his credit, pushed back, telling her the investigation found no whipping took place.
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 11, 2023
Although unidentified by several fellow journalists who tweeted about the exchange, the journalist in question is suspected to be April Ryan, a notorious race-baiting reporter who currently serves as press correspondent for The Grio and often focuses her questioning on issues related solely to the black community.
At the briefing—intended to give Mayorkas an opportunity to deflect blame for the crush of illegal immigrants flooding the border after the lapse of pandemic-era Title 42 protections—Ryan initially asked what DHS officials were doing specifically to protect black refugees who could not safely file asylum claims in their country of origin.
When Mayorkas failed to address her concerns, she followed up, invoking the September 2021 “whipping” scandal that Democrats used to redirect attention from their failed Afghanistan withdrawal.
“The southern border is not just Mexicans,” Ryan began. “It’s Haitians, it’s Africans—particularly with that issue with the Haitians being whipped with the with the reins on the horses, but what is there…”
Mayorkas then interjected to acknowledge that the besmirched border agents had been vindicated by a 500-page report last year.
“Well, let me just correct you right there, because actually the investigation concluded that the whipping did not occur,” he said.
Ryan demurred, insisting that it had happened, while leaving open the possibility that the photos were altered.
“I’m sorry, I saw it differently,” she said. “They were whipped with something from the horse—reins from a horse. Maybe either the video or the picture was fixed, but what I saw was totally different.”
Mayorkas, however, stood his ground.
“Yeah, I’m gonna leave you as, uh, corrected,” he replied.
After Reuters videos of the Sept. 19, 2021, episode began gaining traction in the leftist press, Democrats quickly proceeded to pounce on the false narrative.
The video, which did not in fact show border agents whipping anyone, was “horrible to watch,” declared then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
“I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate,” she said at a Sept. 20 press briefing.
Some, such as MSNBC race-hustler Joy Reid, suggested that the images of the mounted agents attempting to assist the migrants as they made their way illegally across the border were evocative of slavery.
This is beyond repulsive. Are these images from 2021 or 1851?? https://t.co/sZv1c0aRWG
— Diana Was Right (@JoyAnnReid) September 20, 2021
But on Sept. 24 the photographer who took the images, Paul Ratje, came forward to refute the claims that the migrants were being whipped.
Shortly thereafter, the New York Times quietly corrected the record.
"An earlier version… overstated what is known about the behavior of some Border Patrol agents on horseback. While the agents waved their reins while pushing migrants back into the Rio Grande, The Times has not seen conclusive evidence that migrants were struck with the reins." pic.twitter.com/yJ84moz9ET
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) September 27, 2021
Nonetheless, President Joe Biden insisted that very same evening at a press conference that the agents responsible would pay the price.
“It was horrible what [they did]—to see people treated like they did: horses nearly running them over and people being strapped,” Biden said. “I promise you, those people will pay … an investigation is underway now, and there will be consequences.”
Even after a June 2022 report formally cleared the agents, DHS announced it would still punish them for “administrative violations.”
BREAKING: Per federal source, DHS is preparing to discipline multiple horseback Border Patrol agents who were accused of “whipping” Haitian migrants in Del Rio last summer. I’m told DHS will imminently allege “administrative violations”, agents will be able to respond @FoxNews
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 14, 2022
Republicans slammed the administration’s sad attempt at saving face.
The Biden regime is embarrassed that they fell for a bullshit story about whipping, so they’re going to ruin the careers of these border patrol agents who were just doing their jobs. https://t.co/STV8zrHdhB
— Blake Masters (@bgmasters) June 15, 2022
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
