Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas knew in September 2021 that mounted Border Patrol agents did not whip Haitian border crossers with their reins, as so many blue checkmarks and corrupt corporate media outlets suggested. Yet mere hours after he received word that the photographer who took the viral photos never saw any whipping, Mayorkas peddled the lie at a White House press conference.
Emails obtained by the Heritage Foundation via a Freedom of Information Act request show that assistant secretary of DHS public affairs Marsha Espinosa notified Mayorkas and other top DHS officials about a local news interview debunking the viral “whipping” lie on Sept. 24, 2021.
In the body of her email to Mayorkas, Espinosa highlighted comments from Las Cruces, New Mexico photographer Paul Ratje who explained that, while photographing the mounted Border Patrol agents, he never saw officials use their leather reins to whip anyone.
