Dem Rep. Green: ‘I’ll Accept’ Border Patrol Didn’t Use Reins as Whips, But Reins Were ‘Moving in the Direction of’ Migrant

On Thursday’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” Rep. Al Green (D-TX), who introduced a resolution condemning Border Patrol agents “using their reins as lashes” while confronting migrants said that the reins were “moving in the direction of” a Haitian migrant, but accepted that agents didn’t use their reins as whips.

Green said, “I have a picture of what was posted on many stations, as — a person on a horse, with the reins moving in the direction of a Haitian as they were trying as best as they could to move them in a given direction. Well, this is what many people see, I’m a 74-year-old man of African ancestry, here’s what I see: I see what we saw at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, persons on horses, persons marching across the bridge, persons being brutalized. … So, my memories of persons on horses chasing people probably doesn’t coincide with the memories of others. I also can remember and think of the times when persons who were of African ancestry who were tethered to horses and they were beaten while they were walking, or at least there were whips cracking around them.”

Later on, after a caller said that the reins weren’t being used as whips, Green stated, “I’ll accept what you say about the reins not being used as whips, but I don’t think that you ought to use your horse to intimidate persons who are unarmed and mean you no harm.”

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