Fact Check: A Seattle Times Op-Ed Claimed that CBP Agents Wielded Whips Against Migrants
An op-ed published by the Seattle Times on Tuesday mentions “images of Border Patrol agents on horseback whipping Haitian asylum seekers at the Texas-Mexico border” and “whip-wielding Border Patrol agents,” referencing viral images from the past few weeks that some claimed showed Border Patrol agents on horseback striking Haitian asylum seekers with whips.
The photographer behind the pictures, Paul Ratje, told local media that the pictures were “misconstrued.” “I’ve never seen them whip anyone,” Ratje said.
El Paso Times reporter Martha Pskowski was also on the scene and reported that a Border Patrol agent on horseback “menacingly swung his reins like a whip,” though the article notes that the agent used his reins, “not an actual whip.”
The reports from Ratje and Pskowki align with comments made by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who explained that, “to ensure control of the horse, long reins are used.” Further, the Associated Press reported: “There was no sign in photos and videos viewed by The Associated Press that the mounted agents were carrying whips or using their reins as such when confronting the migrants.” In the same AP article, the reporters note that “one Border Patrol agent on horseback was seen twirling his long leather reins in a menacing way at the Haitian migrants, but not actually striking anyone.” Washington Post correspondent Phillip Bump noted this as well, pointing out that “Neither Pskowski nor Ratje describe seeing anyone struck by the objects, though Ratje said he did see a migrant almost trampled.”
