White House Trolls the Media Over the MS-13 "Animals" Kefuffle

Screen capture from NYT video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbEe8x2O7Qg

Last week one of the main stories was a decision by most major media organizations to quote President Trump so far out of context as to become a deliberate and dishonest hit. The setting was a White House forum on immigration and the sheriff of Fresno County, CA, complained about how sanctuary city laws kept her from reporting MS-13 gang members in detention to ICE. This is the exchange:

Sheriff Mims: “There could be an MS-13 member I know about — if they don’t reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it.”

Mr. Trump: “We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we’re stopping a lot of them — but we’re taking people out of the country. You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people. These are animals. And we’re taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that’s never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out. It’s crazy.”

President Trump has a history of using MS-13 as a metaphor for most that is wrong with our immigration system. This is from a speech he gave to law enforcement officials on Long Island on July 28, 2017. See if it sounds familiar.

President Trump on Friday warned of an uptick in violence from the transnational gang MS-13 that he said exploited weak political leadership and immigration enforcement to terrorize communities as the White House launched a renewed push for Congress to beef up funding for border security measures.

Trump’s visit to a county racked by violence attributed to the gang — 17 murders over 18 months, according to local police — aimed to give “power and poignancy” to his message that lawmakers must do more to combat illegal immigration” a White House aide told reporters in a briefing.

In stark language, Trump said MS-13 members have stabbed, raped and murdered young people and “transformed peaceful parks and beautiful quiet neighborhoods into bloodstained killing fields.” He added: “They’re animals. We cannot tolerate as a society the spilling of innocent, young, wonderful, vibrant people.”
…
“For many years, they exploited America’s weak borders and immigration enforcement,” Trump said of gangs such as MS-13. “They are there right now because of weak political leadership … and in many cases police who are not allowed to do their job because they have a pathetic mayor or a mayor who does not know what’s going on.”

But because Trump, the media took a throwaway line and claimed that Trump was characterizing all immigrants as animals. Eventually, the White House beat back the claim but it spoke to the willingness of Trump opponents, in and out of the media, to just lie if they think it will hurt Trump.

Sarah #Huckabee "If the media and liberals want to defend MS-13, they're more than welcome to. Frankly, I don't think the term #Trump used was strong enough… It took an animal to stab a man 100 times and decapitate him and rip his heart out." pic.twitter.com/1DOyXCX1Hq

— Kevin W (@kwilli1046) May 19, 2018

This morning, the White House decided to troll the press corps with this news release:

What You Need To Know About The Violent Animals Of MS-13

WHAT: The violent animals of MS-13 have committed heinous, violent attacks in communities across America.

Too many innocent Americans have fallen victim to the unthinkable violence of MS-13’s animals.

At the State of the Union in January 2018, President Trump brought as his guests Elizabeth Alvarado, Robert Mickens, Evelyn Rodriguez, and Freddy Cuevas, the parents of Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas. Police believe these young girls were chased down and brutally murdered by MS-13 gang members on Long Island, New York, in 2016. Suffolk County Police Commissioner stated that the “murders show a level of brutality that is close to unmatched.”

In Maryland, MS-13’s animals are accused of stabbing a man more than 100 times and then decapitating him, dismembering him, and ripping his heart out of his body. Police believe MS-13 members in Maryland also savagely beat a 15-year-old human trafficking victim. The MS-13 animals used a bat and took turns beating her nearly 30 times in total.

In Houston, Texas, two MS-13 members were charged after kidnapping and sexually assaulting one girl and murdering another. The two MS-13 animals laughed, smiled, and waved for cameras in court as they faced the charges.

New York communities have suffered tremendously from the abhorrent violence of MS-13. Nearly 40 percent of all murders in Suffolk County, New York between January 2016 and June 2017 were tied to MS-13.

In January 2017, MS-13 members were charged with killing and hacking up a teenager in Nassau County. MS-13’s animals reportedly saw the murder as a way to boost their standing in the gang. In April 2017, police believe four young men were brutally murdered by MS-13 animals on Long Island. One victim was a young man in town visiting family during an Easter week vacation. Just last month, in April 2018, MS-13 reportedly called for its members on Long Island to kill a cop for the sake of making a statement.

WHY: MS-13 is a transnational gang which follows the motto of “kill, rape, control” by committing shocking acts of violence in an attempt to instill fear and gain control.

MS-13 is a transnational gang that has brought violence, fear, and suffering to American communities. MS-13, short for Mara Salvatrucha, commits shocking acts of violence to instill fear, including machete attacks, executions, gang rape, human trafficking, and more. In their motto, the animals of MS-13 make clear their goal is to “kill, rape, control.” The gang has more than 10,000 members in the United States spreading violence and suffering.

Recent investigations have revealed MS-13 gang leaders based in El Salvador have been sending representatives into the United States illegally to connect the leaders with local gang members. These foreign-based gang leaders direct local members to become even more violent in an effort to control more territory.

President Trump’s entire Administration is working tirelessly to bring these violent animals to justice.