The New York Times issued a correction after claiming that border patrol agents were whipping Haitian migrants with horse reins.
The original article, which was published Friday, covered President Joe Biden’s comments that border patrol officers accused of mistreating Haitian migrants would “pay” for their actions.
“The images of agents on horseback chasing, and in some cases using the reins of their horses to strike at running migrants, came as Mr. Biden’s administration moved to forcefully round up and deport more than 2,000 of the 15,000 migrants who gathered in a makeshift camp in Del Rio, Texas,” the article read.
NYTimes correction:
Original:”The images of agents on horseback chasing, & in some cases using the reins of their horses to strike at running migrants…”
Now:”Images of Border Patrol agents on horseback waving their reins while pushing migrants back…”https://t.co/oOMUkbZFAd pic.twitter.com/Ged8q0eR6F
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) September 27, 2021
An updated version changed the sentence to say “images of border patrol agents on horseback waving their reins while pushing migrants back into the Rio Grande have prompted a torrent of criticism from Democrats and civil rights groups.”
In the correction, the NYT admitted that the original article “overstated” what was going on at the border.
“An earlier version of this article overstated what is known about the behavior of some Border Patrol agents on horseback,” the correction read. “While the agents waved their reins while pushing migrants back into the Rio Grande, The Times has not seen conclusive evidence that migrants were struck with the reins.”
Images circulating across social media sparked accusations that border patrol agents were using horse reins to whip Haitian migrants. High-ranking officials, including the president, repeated the allegations and promised consequences for the agents, who were reassigned to administrative duties while an investigation took place.
Associated Press reporter Sarah Blake Morgan shared footage on Twitter showing that the border patrol agents were using the reins on the horses and not the migrants. Photographer Paul Ratje, who captured the viral images, said that neither he nor his colleagues actually saw anyone being whipped.