Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal
President Trump doubled down on his description of violent MS-13 gangbangers as “animals” last Wednesday at an immigration roundtable in upstate New York. The knee-jerk reaction of “progressive” politicians and mainstream media outlets was loud and predictable as they accused the president of calling all immigrants “animals” ... but that’s not what he said.
Earlier this month Trump commented on a California murder case in which 23-year-old MS-13 member Joel “Animal” (an appropriate nickname) Martinez was sentenced to 40 years in prison for stabbing 15-year-old Javier de Paz Castro to death at Fresno in 2015. “These aren’t people, these are animals, and we’re taking them out of our country at a rate that’s never happened before,” the president said as he lambasted a new California sanctuary law that protects criminal illegal aliens like “Animal.”
The White House Press Office then issued a statement asserting “too many innocent Americans have fallen victim to the unthinkable violence of MS-13 animals,” and went on to detail some of the heinous crimes committed by MS-13 gangbangers. Here are some recent examples:
In Maryland MS-13 members are accused of stabbing a man more than 100 times before decapitating and dismembering him, and ripping his heart out of his body. Other MS-13 thugs in Maryland are accused of savagely beating a 15-year-old human trafficking victim with a baseball bat.
In Houston, Texas, two MS-13 members were charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting one girl and murdering another. According to the White House, “The MS-13 animals laughed, smiled and waved for the camera as they appeared in court.”
In January 2017, in Nassau County, New York, MS-13 animals hacked a teenager to death “as a way to boost their standing in the gang” as their leaders called upon them “to kill a cop for the sake of making a statement.” Some statement!
Well, these are the bloodthirsty criminals illegal immigration and “open borders” advocates are defending by refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, and they should be ashamed of themselves. Central America-based MS-13 has an estimated 10,000 members — most of them illegal immigrants — in more than 40 states, including Nevada, and I heartily endorse President Trump’s campaign to bring these violent gangbangers to justice. And by the way, a border wall might help or at the very least, strongly enhanced border security.
MS-13 members have been spotted in Northern Nevada and I suspect the recent rash of shootings in Reno and elsewhere in our area is gang-related. In fact, we know the murder that occurred earlier this month in a Dayton shopping mall was the result of a marijuana deal gone bad. We can thank local politicians who approved the commercialization of “recreational” marijuana for that one. Those politicians know who they are, so I won’t name names in order to spare them from further embarrassment and opprobrium.
Fox News reported Trump’s “animal” comments accurately, pointing out he was referring to MS-13 killers and not to all immigrants. However, many media organizations continued to misrepresent Trump’s comments long after watchdogs called them out for misinterpreting his remarks. And so it goes with the Never Trump segment of the mainstream media, thereby giving the president more opportunities to bloviate about “fake news.” I think Trump deserves fair treatment from the media even though they don’t like him and/or disagree with him on the issues. To be fair, the mainstream media should give the president credit for positive news, like tax reform.
I’ll close by reminding you President Trump is right about MS-13 gangbangers, who are animals — no doubt about it.
Guy W. Farmer is the Appeal’s senior political columnist.
