Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly preparing to discipline U.S. Border Patrol agents who were on horseback when they rode up on illegal aliens last fall.
The news comes after the New York Post reported in April that the agents had been cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but were still under an administrative review.
“The [Department of Homeland Security’s] Office of the Inspector General, they had first crack at it,” Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told the newspaper. “They determined there was no criminal activity that was done so they closed out their investigation.”
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin tweeted late Tuesday afternoon that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was planning to discipline the agents.
“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,” Melugin wrote. “Per federal source, this announcement is expected to come down any day now. It’s unclear what ‘administrative violations’ the BP agents will be accused of, but they are not being accused of any criminal conduct. The horseback unit involved is based out of Carrizo Springs, TX.”
Per federal source, this announcement is expected to come down any day now. It’s unclear what “administrative violations” the BP agents will be accused of, but they are not being accused of any criminal conduct. The horseback unit involved is based out of Carrizo Springs, TX.
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 14, 2022
“It has been nearly 9 months since this incident took place,” Melugin added. “The agents have been taken off their normal duties and have not been allowed to have contact w/ migrants since. President Biden assured the public at the time that ‘there will be consequences’ for the agents involved.”
The photographer whose photos of the agents went viral late last year said in an interview that he never saw the agents whip anyone.
“I’ve never seen them whip anyone,” photographer Paul Ratje said. “He was swinging it, but it can be misconstrued when you’re looking at the picture.”
The Daily Wire reported at the time:
While journalists claimed the photos showed Border Patrol agents were “whipping” migrants, the photos actually show split reins, not whips. Split reins are used to direct the horse and hang loosely down the horse’s shoulders. When a horse makes a sudden movement, those strips of leather will naturally flow outward, which is what was depicted in the images. In no picture was a Border Patrol agent holding a whip or even holding the reins in a whip-like fashion.
In one of the videos, a Border Patrol agent can be seen spinning the rein, but no contact was made with the immigrant approaching the horse.
A Border Patrol agent told Townhall that agents use their reins for a variety of reasons and that “primarily it’s used to steer the horse, but agents will also spin them sometimes to deter people from getting too close to the horse…We are not aware of anyone being struck with the reins.”