Despite the White House claiming last week that mounted agents had been pulled from their saddles following false abuse allegations, the US Border Patrol is still using its horse-mounted patrols, Washington Examiner reported.
An unidentified Border Patrol official said that the only change made after the US Department of Homeland Security suspended the equestrian unit’s use of last week was that they’re no longer working on the banks of the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas.
Democrat politicians and mainstream media outlets villainized the mounted agents’ unit in September after false claims surfaced accusing agents of using whips to corral the migrants accompanied by photos of horseback Border Patrol agents trying to prevent Haitian migrants to enter the US.
Some of the leading Democrats, like Vice President Kamala Harris, likened the alleged brutality to times of slavery and President Joe Biden condemned the horseback unit, saying “those people will pay” for strapping migrants.
Citing the citing the “horrible and horrific” behavior of horse-mounted patrols in Del Rio, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pointed last week their suspension as an example of actions the administration was taking in response.
But contrary to false accusation-enticed hysteria and statements from the Biden administration, the photographer who took the viral pictures later claimed he didn’t see the agents whipping anyone while the head of the Border Patrol, Raul Ortiz, argued the agents were “wielding reins” to control their horses and were not using whips at all.
On top of that, the Border Patrol’s use of force policy says that “authorized agents may use ‘objectively reasonable’ force only when it is necessary to carry out their law enforcement duties”.
That was also confirmed by the National Fraternal Order of Police, saying that Border Patrol agents are NOT ‘whipping’ people, but using reins, explaining they’re used to ‘drive’ the horse like a steering wheel is used to drive a car.
Though Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that oversees the Border Patrol, opened an investigation on the alleged incident in mid-September, the border security advocates argued that the it won’t possibly be fair since the people at the highest levels of the government, including Biden himself, have already pronounced the agents guilty of heinous actions.
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