Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren sparked a firestorm on Monday after she took to Twitter to praise the use of tear gas by the United States Border Patrol on asylum-seeking refugees.
American Border Patrol agents fired canisters of tear gas - a chemical weapon banned in warfare - on migrants seeking asylum in the United States.
"Children screamed and coughed," the Associated Press wrote as events unfurled in Tijuana, Mexico. "Fumes were carried by the wind toward people who were hundreds of feet away."
The gas was employed after "around 500" refugees tried to squeeze through border fencing.
"Bum-rushing the border is a CHOICE and has consequences," Lahren wrote. "Watching the USA FINALLY defend our borders was the HIGHLIGHT of my Thanksgiving weekend."
Twitter raged at Lahren for her sanctimonious support of the cruelty levied on unarmed civilians by President Donald Trump - over Thanksgiving weekend, no less.
Painful ignorance.
The blowback was brutal.
Twitter went aflutter on Sunday after Trump demanded Mexico capture migrants, whom he deemed without evidence as "stone cold criminals," before threatening to completely close the southern border.
"Mexico should move the flag-waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries," wrote the leader of the free world. "Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!"
Alyssa Milano's brash response to Trump movitated Lahren to jump into the discussion.
Trump was rebutted by a chorus of informed individuals who, unlike Lahren and Trump, understand that seeking asylum in the United States is not a crime.
Trump was not spared the Internet's wrath. Mexico was supposed to fund a border wall, no?
On Monday, Trump and Border Patrol defended his decision to use tear gas on unarmed civilians on foreign soil.
The president said agents "had to use (force) because they were being rushed by some very tough people and they used tear gas."
Trump added: "Here's the bottom line, nobody's coming into our country unless they're coming legally."
CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan also stood by his agency's actions.
[CBP] effectively managed an extremely dangerous situation involving over 1,000 individuals who sought to enter the US unlawfully in large groups," said McAleenan. "They did so safely and without any reported serious injuries on either side of the border."
This statement, however, contradicts reports of people, including children and babies, coughing from exposure to the tear gas.
