Thread: Dems, Media Outraged After Trump Calls MS-13 Gang Members ‘Animals’

May 16, 2018
John Binder

Democrats, the mainstream media, and left-wing reporters are twisting President Trump’s words in calling MS-13 illegal alien gang members “animals.”

During a roundtable discussion of California’s sanctuary state laws, Fresno Sheriff Margaret Mims mentioned to Trump the difficulty of working with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to notify them of an illegal alien MS-13 gang member.

In response, Trump called the MS-13 gang members “animals,” as he’s done in the past.



MIMS: There could be an MS-13 gang member, I know about, if they don’t reach a threshold, I cannot tell ICE about them. [Emphasis added]

TRUMP: We have people coming into the country — they’re trying to come in, we’re stopping a lot of them — but we’re taking 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. The dumbest laws, as I said before, the dumbest laws on immigration in the world. So we’re going to take care of it. We’ll get it done. [Emphasis added]

Following the statement by Trump, the Daily Beast published a headline that claimed the president was referring to “some deported immigrants” when he called MS-13 gang members “animals.”

Neoconservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin attacked Trump’s Evangelical supporters, posting a link to a report by The Hill which claimed the president called all illegal aliens “animals.”


Jennifer Rubin
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@JRubinBlogger
this is disgusting. and his evanglical sycophants will applaud his utter dehumanization of men, women and children http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...umYj3E.twitter …
1:04 PM - May 16, 2018

MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell repeated the false claim on her Twitter feed:


Andrea Mitchell
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@mitchellreports
A tough take down by the California governor after @realDonaldTrump calls people trying to get into the country "animals" not people. https://twitter.com/JerryBrownGov/st...46319330209792 …
2:21 PM - May 16, 2018

NBC News reporter Benjy Sarlin called Trump’s attack on MS-13 gang members “a political tactic with a long and deadly history.”


Benjy Sarlin
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@BenjySarlin
One of Trump's most consistent rhetorical moves is comparing large classes of human beings to animals -- a political tactic with a long and deadly history https://twitter.com/elisefoley/statu...39161972903936 …
12:54 PM - May 16, 2018

A reporter from the Guardian falsely claimed that Trump was referring to “some immigrants” when he called MS-13 gang members “animals.” The Guardian report posted an edited version of Trump’s remark, specifically omitting the portion where Sheriff Mims refers to MS-13 gang members.


Hannah Jane Parkinson
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@ladyhaja
Trump just verbatim referred to some immigrants as animals. “These aren’t people, these are animals.” **** everyone who voted for him & everyone who continues to appease him.
1:12 PM - May 16, 2018

A writer for New York Magazine claimed Trump “reserves” the term “‘animals’ only for brown people.”


𝘾𝙛.
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@cristianafarias
Never, ever forget this fact: Donald Trump reserves the word "animals" only for brown people. https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/statu...42390660009984 …
1:19 PM - May 16, 2018

CNN pundit Keith Boykin similarly said Trump’s referring to MS-13 gang members as “animals” implied racism and is “the same dehumanization tactic used by slaver traders.”


Keith Boykin
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@keithboykin
Trump referring to human beings as "animals" is the same dehumanization tactic used by slave traders and slave owners to justify the oppression of black people for hundreds of years. https://twitter.com/cspan/status/996845374819192833 …
2:14 PM - May 16, 2018

A researcher with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee posted photos of children at the southern border alongside Trump’s remarks on MS-13 gang members.

Tyler Hansen
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Verified account

@tjhansen
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Trump: "We're taking people out of the country — you wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals."




1:21 PM - 16 May 2018

The violent El Salvadorian MS-13 gang has flourished in the U.S. after decades of open borders policies whereby unaccompanied minors are resettled throughout the country. Sometimes, those unaccompanied minors are already members of MS-13 or become members.

As Breitbart Texas reported, there have been at least 200 murders by the MS-13 gang across 22 states since 2012. Most recently, Border Patrol revealed to Breitbart Texas that an MS-13 gang member traveling with a caravan of 1,200 Central Americans posed as an unaccompanied minor to gain entry to the U.S.

An explosive report by Breitbart News revealed that nearly 100 MS-13 gang members had been resettled across the country by the federal government as unaccompanied minors. Nearly 65 of those gang members were granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJ), which acts as a quasi-amnesty program for young illegal aliens who cross the southern border.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...mbers-animals/

Donald Trump, Jr. Slams NBC’s Andrea Mitchell: ‘You’d Rather Side With MS-13 Than Pres. Trump’

by Kristinn Taylor May 16, 2018

NBC Chief Foreign Correspondent Andrea Mitchell led the pack Wednesday afternoon in lying about President Donald Trump calling immigrants ‘animals’ when he was speaking about MS-13 gang members at a round table discussion on California’s sanctuary policies for illegal aliens. Much of the media and many Democrats joined Mitchell in lying about Trump’s comments.

“A tough take down by the California governor after @realDonaldTrump calls people trying to get into the country “animals” not people.”


Andrea Mitchell
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@mitchellreports
A tough take down by the California governor after @realDonaldTrump calls people trying to get into the country "animals" not people. https://twitter.com/JerryBrownGov/st...46319330209792 …
2:21 PM - May 16, 2018

A fed up Donald Trump, Jr. called out Mitchell on Twitter, “He was specifically talking about MS-13, and you know it. They are animals. I know you would rather side with them than Trump as you so often make clear but it’s a bad look for you Andrea.”


Donald Trump Jr.
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@DonaldJTrumpJr
He was specifically talking about MS-13, and you know it. They are animals. I know you would rather side with them than Trump as you so often make clear but it’s a bad look for you Andrea. https://twitter.com/mitchellreports/...63168189222913 …
8:07 PM - May 16, 2018

CBS News was the exception in the media, posting video and reporting online about Trump’s comments in proper context.

President Trump on Wednesday encouraged the Justice Department to investigate Oakland’s Mayor Libby Schaaf for “obstruction of justice,” after she tipped off immigrant communities about an Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweep. Mr. Trump made the comments in a California “sanctuary state” roundtable at the White House, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions feet away down the table.

“To me, that’s obstruction of justice,” Mr. Trump said. “And perhaps the Department of Justice can look into that…”

According to the White House pool reporter in the room, Sessions sat stone-faced as Mr. Trump made those remarks.

The president also called some illegal immigrants not human, but “animals,” after Fresno’s mayor expressed the difficulty in capturing and punishing illegal immigrants accused of crimes, such as members of the MS-13 gang.

“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,” Mr. Trump said. “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.”…

Katie Watson
‏Here is the transcript of what Trump said in describing some illegal immigrants as "animals," in context

3:21 PM - 16 May 2018

Shorter video clip without context posted by C-SPAN.

(video within tweet)
CSPAN
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@cspan
President Trump during California #SanctuaryCities Roundtable: "These aren't people. These are animals."

Full video here: https://cs.pn/2INPSJ4
1:10 PM - May 16, 2018

Donald Trump, Jr. also retweeted this tweet that criticized C-SPAN for misleading editing that helped stoke the smear job against his father, “You intentionally began the clip immediately after he was asked about MS-13 gang members, an international criminal gang, crossing the border. Why would you mislead the public like this?”


Chad Felix Greene
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@chadfelixg
You intentionally began the clip immediately after he was asked about MS-13 gang members, an international criminal gang, crossing the border.

Why would you mislead the public like this? https://twitter.com/cspan/status/996845374819192833 …
3:31 PM - May 16, 2018

He also retweeted the following tweets criticizing Mitchell.


Stephen Miller
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@redsteeze
That’s not what he said & not even remotely close to the context. The animals comment was in response to concerns about MS-13. Backing MS-13 over Trump isn’t the media narrative road I’d go down but this is going to be another rake so have at it https://twitter.com/mitchellreports/...63168189222913 …
2:39 PM - May 16, 2018


Ryan Saavedra 🇺🇸
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@RealSaavedra
You're a liar, @MitchellReports.

He called MS-13 animals and they are, they brutally murder people. https://twitter.com/mitchellreports/...63168189222913 …
4:46 PM - May 16, 2018

Here are a few tweets from the Fresno Sheriff about the meeting with President Trump.

Fresno Co Sheriff
‏@FresnoSheriff @MargaretMims was at the table today in the @WhiteHouse with @POTUS @realDonaldTrump to discuss California's Sanctuary State Law #SB54 and the impact it's having on local law enforcement agencies.


2:14 PM - 16 May 2018

Margaret Mims
‏@MargaretMims
Follow Follow @MargaretMims
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Staging in the Eisenhower Exec Office Building Belfor meeting with the President


11:13 AM - 16 May 2018

Margaret Mims
‏@MargaretMims
Follow Follow @MargaretMims
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Awesome experience at the White House today!

1:52 PM - 16 May 2018

Kudos to Sheriff Mims for standing against MS-13.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018...an-pres-trump/

He should call the media, "animals". They don't demonstrate the ability to think clearly.

well first of all this is all Obama doing . & Hillary doing she has her hand in this ) yes they are animal's come to nyc & Pa some town & see what going on . as Our president said they come back & go . well I say shoot them. & they will not come back we are sick of this &( the Dem if I was the President your ass would be out the door .) & fast

Right O, southBronx!! You are exactly right!!

Originally Posted by southBronx

well first of all this is all Obama doing . & Hillary doing she has her hand in this ) yes they are animal's come to nyc & Pa some town & see what going on . as Our president said they come back & go . well I say shoot them. & they will not come back we are sick of this &( the Dem if I was the President your ass would be out the door .) & fast

I completely agree, if I were president, the borders would be militarized and I would have all gang bangers and drug runners shot on sight. These MS-13 aren't just animals, they are rabid animals at that.

The media showing once again that they have no shame acting like Trump was saying what he said about MS-13 applies to all immigrants. At what point do we discuss getting these media outlets shut down? They aren't interested in reporting news, they are nothing, but over glorified political activists.

They are animals. And we do not want their MOTHERS coming across our border either. THEY gave birth to these animals. And where are the fathers???

The whole family needs to be deported. They are all related and crime is in the whole family. It follows them here.

NO DACA
NO PATH TO STAY
NO AMNESTY
NO REFUGEES
NO ASYLUM
NO TPS
NO ILLEGAL ALIENS

WE ARE NOT THE SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEMS, YOUR OVERBREEDING, YOUR POVERTY OR YOUR CRIME

GO HOME AND BUILD AMERICA ON YOUR SOIL.

By S.A. Miller - The Washington Times - Thursday, May 17, 2018

The White House on Thursday fiercely defended President Trump’s use of the word “animals” to describe illegal immigrants in the MS-13 gang.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the word “animals” didn’t go far enough in describing the brutal street gang known for hacking people to death with machetes.

“It took an animal to stab a man 100 times and rip his heart out,” she said, referring to a reported MS-13 attack. “I think the term animal doesn’t go far enough.”

Mr. Trump came under fire from immigrant-right groups for making the comment Wednesday in a meeting with local officials who have challenged California’s sanctuary-state law.

Mr. Trump did not specify MS-13 in his remark, but he was responding to a sheriff’s complaint that under the California law her office can’t contact immigration officials about known MS-13 members.

“The president was very clearly referring to MS-13 gang members who enter our country illegally,” said Mrs. Sanders.

She added, “If liberals and the media want to defend MS-13 they are welcome to.”

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...nimal-comment/

From March 2, 2017, The violence and viciousness is is incomprehensible to a civilized person.

Then there are the murders in Virginia at the doorstep of the capitol but perhaps the Democrats don't keep up with the local news...or they live under a rock. IMO MS-13 started moving into Northern Virginia in the 90's.
MS-13 Gang Members Arrested in Girls’ Killings on Long Island, Police Say


Robert L. Capers, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, before a news conference on Thursday.CreditJohnny MIlano for The New York Times

By Liz Robbins
March 2, 2017

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — The four young men sat nonchalantly in a federal courthouse here on Thursday afternoon, barely raising their eyebrows when a judge said they could face the death penalty for their roles in the killings of two teenage girls in September.

Instead, one of the four, Jairo Saenz, a leader of the local clique of a transnational gang with Salvadoran roots, grinned, swiveled in his chair and hardly looked at the crying relatives from El Salvador in the back of the courtroom.

Mr. Saenz, 19, was one of five people arrested Thursday morning in Suffolk County on Long Island as part of a federal sweep that targeted 13 adult members of the gang, MS-13. An additional three people were charged as juveniles, and their records were sealed. As of Thursday evening, 14 people were in custody, with two yet to be arrested.

In a midday news conference at the federal courthouse here, Robert L. Capers, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the indictments and the arrests made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Long Island gang task force.

“For far too long on Long Island, MS-13 has been meting out its own version of the death penalty,” Mr. Capers said.

In the back of the courtroom — on the opposite side from the gang members’ families — sat Evelyn Rodriguez, the mother of Kayla Cuevas, 16, who, along with Kayla’s friend Nisa Mickens, 15, the government said was killed by the men. Ms. Rodriguez sat stoically.

“I’m really overwhelmed,” she said, emerging from the courtroom.

The trial of the 13 adult gang members is scheduled for April 10.

Mr. Capers said that 10 of the 13 adult gang members were undocumented immigrants, and that three of the gang members who were accused of direct involvement in the killings of Kayla and Nisa in Brentwood, N.Y., on Sept. 13, were undocumented immigrants. He said Mr. Saenz’s older brother, Alexi, 22, who also was charged in the killings, was a legal permanent resident.

Earlier, four gang members were arrested in connection with the killing of José Peña-Hernandez, 18, whose remains were found in the woods near a hospital in October. They are also undocumented immigrants.

The federal charges include racketeering, seven murders, attempted murders, obstruction of justice, arson and conspiracy. Since the killings, the Suffolk County Police Department has arrested more than 125 MS-13 members, officials have said. The arrests on Thursday are the only ones in conjunction with federal authorities.

“We have promised to eradicate MS-13 from our streets, and we remain committed to finishing the job,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy Sini said.



Evelyn Rodriguez, the mother of Kayla Cuevas, one of two Long Island teenagers who were killed last year, spoke with members of the news media on Thursday.
CreditJohnny Milano for The New York Times“

Although we are keenly aware that nothing will ever undo the heartbreaking loss of Nisa and Kayla, we can take solace in the fact that their savage murderers will be held accountable,” he said.

Eleven gang killings in Suffolk County last year were attributed to MS-13, and the cases became a referendum on illegal immigration, because a majority of the members had come to the United States illegally.

But Mr. Sini said that while the police worked with the F.B.I., they also depended on the cooperation of all community members. He said that he would not authorize his officers to become immigration agents as President Trump had directed in an executive order on immigration enforcement.

“Any law enforcement official worth their salt wants a community to feel comfortable providing law enforcement information about specific crimes and also about public safety issues in their community,” Mr. Sini said after the news conference, “and without the cooperation of the community, the mission is compromised.”

At the news conference, Mr. Capers gave the first extended description of the killings on the night of Sept. 13. He said that Kayla had been feuding with gang members at school and via social media. Nisa “was at the wrong place at the wrong time, with her childhood friend,” he said.

About 8:30 p.m., the two girls were walking on the street, having just left Kayla’s home, as Selvin Chavez and Enrique Portillo, both 19, and two juvenile gang members were cruising in a car, looking for rival gang members to assault or kill, Mr. Capers said.

The MS-13 members spotted the girls and placed a call to the Saenz brothers: Jairo Saenz’s gang name was Funny, and Alexi Saenz’s was Blasty. The brothers gave the order to kill the girls, and their henchmen wasted no time. They first came upon Nisa and bludgeoned her using baseball bats and machetes. She suffered such blunt-force trauma to her face and body, Mr. Capers said, that she was unrecognizable.

Kayla, he said, “ran for her life.” A crafty left-handed basketball player, she made it into the woods next to a house off a cul-de-sac, but the gang members caught her, swiftly ending her life. They drove off, leaving the bodies.

“This was the worst I had ever seen,” Mr. Sini said of the crime scene.

Mr. Capers said that Mr. Peña-Hernandez was a member of the gang, and that fellow members suspected that he was a police informant and killed him. His bones were found a month after the girls were killed.

The transnational gang has taken hold on Long Island in the last 10 years; 2016 was an especially violent year. But as a result of increased patrols and a crackdown on gang members, Mr. Sini said violent crime in Suffolk County had dropped by 45 percent.

Ms. Rodriguez said her husband called her at work, telling her that the police had come to the house to tell them Kayla’s and Nisa’s killers had been caught. She sobbed and went immediately to the chapel in her workplace.

“Today is a celebration,” she said, expressing her gratitude to law enforcement. “I know Kayla is up in heaven saying, ‘Mom, you did it.’”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/n...ng-island.html