Mounted border agents accused of whipping immigrants won’t face criminal charges: report Border Patrol agents on horseback (U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Flickr)
The mounted Border Patrol agents who were accused of whipping illegal immigrants late last year have been cleared of any wrongdoing and will not face any criminal charges, according to a Fox News report on Friday.
“Remember this whipping investigation with Border Patrol agents? It’s now come to an end…the guys are not being punished,” host Bret Baier said. “Remember how much coverage was given to that moment and those allegations?”
“At first it looked bad and then the explanation was available in a matter of 24 or 48 hours,” Brit Hume responded. “That didn’t stop President Biden from coming out and saying these border agents are going to pay.”
“He’s been notably silent on this since, and now we know, as was probably inevitable, that they’ve been cleared of doing anything wrong there. They were using their reins to deal with the horses. This is another example of the administration on the border and border issues. They slow-walk these issues because, I think, in the end, they believe that their constituents in the Democratic Party want these migrants to come, and come by the hundreds of thousands,” Hume continued.
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday when President Joe Biden was going to apologize to the Border officers.
“We’ve been told that the mounted Border Patrol officers the president accused of whipping migrants have been notified they will not face criminal charges,” Doocy said. “So, when is the president going to apologize to them?”
“There is a process and an investigation that’s gone through the Department of Homeland Security, I don’t have an update on that,” Psaki responded.
“The president said that they were whipping people, which would be a criminal offense, and they’re been told they’re not going to be criminally charged, so…,” Doocy continued until he was cut off by Psaki.
“And there was an investigation into that and I’ll let the Department of Homeland Security announce any conclusion of that investigation,” Psaki said.
🚨🚨 Doocy: Now that the Border Patrol agents falsely accused of "whipping" illegal aliens have been cleared, will you or the president apologize for slandering them?
Psaki: "I don't have any comment on that." #BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/hqILqWYjwL— John Cooper (@thejcoop) April 18, 2022
Doocy also noted that Psaki herself accused the officers of using “brutal and inappropriate measures,” and asked if she would apologize now that the officers have been cleared.
“And Peter, there was an investigation into their behavior. So, that investigation is playing out. Whenever it’s going to be announced, the Department of Homeland Security will announce that and I’m sure we’ll have a comment on it after that,” Psaki replied.
Last year, the Biden administration announced that the Department of Homeland Security will no longer use horses during border patrol operations after a number of reports, including the El Paso Times and USA Today, mistakenly identified horse reins as whips, sparking outrage.
