Reporter Spreads Long-Debunked Lie About 'Whipped' Migrants At Border
April Ryan, now a White House "reporter" at The Giro, is still pushing the lie that border patrol agents "whipped" Haitian migrants crossing the U.S. southern border in 2021.
She referenced the debunked myth again in a Thursday briefing with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“The southern border is not just Mexicans,” said Ryan. “It is Haitians, it’s Africans as we’ve seen, particularly with that issue with the Haitians being whipped with the reins with the horses."
Fortunately, Mayorkas stopped her in her tracks. “Well let me just correct you right there. Because actually, the investigation concluded that the whipping did not occur,” interjected Mayorkas.
Mayorkas cites a 511-page Customs and Border Protection investigation that revealed there was "no evidence that involved in this incident struck, intentionally or otherwise, any migrant with their reins."
Still, Ryan pretends to believe otherwise. “I’m sorry, I saw it differently” she replied.
“They were whipped with something from the horse, reins from a horse, I, maybe either the video or the picture was fixed but what I saw was totally different.”
In other words, she chooses not to concern herself with the facts. The truth does not matter to April Ryan. It never has.
“I’m gonna leave you as corrected," Mayorkas concluded.
April Ryan then doubled down on Twitter, where she met a correction from esteemed Community Notes:
https://twitter.com/AprilDRyan/status/1656718061716623361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1656718061716623361%7Ctwgr%5Ec8fbf36feb9b2bc093287f6c1a9411bb28a05ed3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fmedia%2Fmayorkas-cuts-reporters-false-claim-border-patrol-whipped-migrants-correct
And then she tripled down:
https://twitter.com/AprilDRyan/status/1656729335624093697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1656729335624093697%7Ctwgr%5Ec8fbf36feb9b2bc093287f6c1a9411bb28a05ed3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fmedia%2Fmayorkas-cuts-reporters-false-claim-border-patrol-whipped-migrants-correct
In addition to the investigation, the photos Ryan posted were taken by photographer Paul Ratje who admitted to the press that he’d “never seen them whip anyone.”
That's because no one whipped anyone. Nonetheless, Joe Biden promulgated the lie in 2021 and goofs like April Ryan continue to spread said lie years later.
It's called misinformation.