San Diego Border Patrol chief patrol agent Rodney Scott warned that if women and children choose to insert themselves into a violent mob attacking U.S. authorities they would face consequences in a Tuesday morning call with reporters.
“If women and children choose to insert themselves into a violent crowd…there are going to be unintended consequences,” Scott declared, noting that Border Patrol agents would not hesitate to defend themselves.
Junior, a migrant from Honduras, waves the American flag while standing with other migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border fence on November 25, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. Migrants made their way to the location along the border after evading a police blockade as they attempted to approach the El Chaparral port of entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporarily closed two ports of entry on the border with Tijuana in response. Around 6,000 migrants from Central America have arrived in the city with the mayor of Tijuana declaring the situation a ‘humanitarian crisis’. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Scott’s declaration follows U.S. authorities deploying tear gas and pepper spray against a mob of nearly 1,000 migrants who tried to rush the U.S. border Sunday and threw projectiles. (RELATED: ‘NO CROSSINGS’: TRUMP PUSHES MEXICO TO STOP CARAVANS BEFORE THEY START)
Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton explained to reporters that the mob was “almost exclusively male,” a point that was emphasized by Scott. Scott and Houlton sought to combat media portraits of some women and children who were affected by the gas.
Scott, in particular, noted that CS gas is an “irritant” that does not cause permanent effects noting that his agents saw no other choice than to deploy the deterrent. Houlton also noted that tear gas and pepper spray are often used by law enforcement authorities in major metropolitan cities to disperse crowds.
Here’s moment right before shot bang. You can see some rocks being thrown. pic.twitter.com/p0M9p7Rx4G
— WendyFry (@WendyFry_) November 25, 2018
Scott previously revealed Monday that many of the women and children were used as human shields by adult males within the caravan. “What we saw over and over yesterday was that the group — the caravan, as we call them — would push women and children to the front and then begin, basically, rocking our agents,” Scott asserted.
“They use women and children regularly,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd explained to The Daily Caller Monday, confirming that “several’ border patrol agents were struck by projectiles yesterday.
Members of the migrant caravan push forward at a gate separating Guatemala from Mexico on October 19, 2018 in Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatemala. The caravan of thousands of immigrants, most from Honduras, pushed open the gate on the Guatemalan side and crossed the bridge to Mexico but were then pushed back by Mexican riot police. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump also weighed in on the situation, asking reporters Monday evening, “Why is a parent running up into an area where they know the tear gas is forming, and it’s going to be formed, and they’re running up with a child? In some cases, you know, they’re not the parents.”
Trump added, “These are people — they call em ‘grabbers.’ They grab a child because they think they’ll have a certain status by having a child. You know, you have certain advantages in terms of our crazy laws that frankly Congress should be changing.”