Trump's Border Patrol Chief Was Part Of A Secret Facebook Group Filled With Racist, Sexist Comments
The chief of United States Border Patrol admitted to members of Congress she was a member of a secret Facebook group filled with racist and sexist posts, but claimed she was not aware of the troubling content until the group was revealed by reporters.
"I didn't think anything of it at the time," Carla Provost told members of the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday. "I'm on Facebook very, very rarely."
Inside the secret group, named "I'm 10-15," current and former Border Patrol agents posted racist and misogynistic comments, at times joking about the deaths of immigrants in CBP custody and including illustrations of lawmakers engaged in sexual acts with the detained immigrants. At least five children have died in US custody since December.
"Let me be clear, on July 1 was the first time that I saw those highly offensive and highly unacceptable posts when I saw them in the ProPublica report," she told lawmakers. Provost said she reported herself to CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility when she realized she was a member of the group, and turned over her login information to the office.
At least 70 current and former CBP employees are now under investigation for taking part in the secret group, and Provost said some of them have been placed on administrative duties during the investigation.
But the agency chief pushed back on suggestions that the group was indicative of a subculture within the agency, or that the department had allowed the group to exist. "I would still not call it a subculture," she said. "The vast majority — 99-point-whatever percent — of our men and women are good hardworking American citizens who are doing the best they can in a very difficult crisis," she said.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/border-patrol-chief-secret-facebook-group-provost
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