Border Patrol Agents in Viral ‘Whipping’ Images Cleared While Media Ignores
The border patrol agents at the center of the infamous “whipping” photos that caused outrage even in the White House last year have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but the coverage of this has been a blip compared to the original story.
In September, multiple Border Patrol agents were accused of whipping Haitian migrants. Photos that showed the agents on horseback chasing migrants caused massive outrage and spread quickly across media airwaves. It was widely reported that they were “whipping” the migrants, though it was quickly revealed they were actually handling split reins for their horses. Fox News has reported that the agents have now been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing after being placed on probation and investigated.
This news, however, has missed many media outlets. Major programs like ABC’s World Tonight, NBC’s Nightly News, and CBS Evening News have given a cold shoulder to the coverage, the conservative media watchdog Newsbusters reported. A search of major outlets like CNN and MSNBC via the media monitoring service TVEyes also bring up no results for the story.
The agents may not get much media attention today, but they made numerous headlines in fall. Reactions to the viral photos got so heated, even President Joe Biden said the agents “will pay” for their perceived crimes. Department of Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas responded with equal outrage, saying the department was handling the situation with “tremendous speed and tremendous force.”
Fox News contributor Brit Hume blasted Biden this week for jumping the gun and verbally condemning the men.
“He’s been noticeably silent on this since and now we know it is inevitable that they have been cleared of doing anything wrong there. They were using their reins to deal with their horses,” the newscaster told Special Report host Brett Baier. He added that the current administration “slow walks” issues regarding the U.S. southern border.
The New York Post reported last month that one investigation into the Border Patrol agents may remain open. The internal investigation is being conducted by Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Personal Responsibility (ORP), while the Department of Homeland Security has dismissed their chance to charge the men over the original accusations based on the out of context photos.
“Everything that they were doing, they were acting under the color of law,” Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told the outlet when discussing the investigations.
Watch above, via Fox News.
