Democrat Hoax: No, a Migrant Child Did Not Die in Greg Abbott’s Rio Grande ‘Razor Wire Buoys’

Democrat Hoax: No, a Migrant Child Did Not Die in Greg Abbott’s Rio Grande ‘Razor Wire Buoys’

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has come under fire from the Usual Suspects on the left and in the MSM over his installation last month of a floating, 1000 ft. long border wall in the form of buoys in the Rio Grande as well as razor wire on nearby land to deter the influx of illegal immigrants.

Joe Biden’s Dept. of Justice has already sued over the latest measures Abbott took to protect his state and its residents, claiming that “Texas’ actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties.”

In response, Abbott basically told Biden to stuff it, while promising Texas “will fully utilize our sovereign authority to deal with the humanitarian crisis Biden created at our border”:

President Biden's Dept. of Justice threatened to sue Texas over the marine barriers we deployed on the Rio Grande.

Mr. President, Texas will see you in court.

Texas will fully utilize our sovereign authority to deal with the humanitarian crisis Biden created at our border. pic.twitter.com/hlnHahwDi8

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 24, 2023

Naturally, false allegations are already swirling about the buoys, among them that there is a “chainsaw device” installed “in the middle of [the] buoys,” as declared by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas):

Everyone needs to see what I saw in Eagle Pass today.

Clothing stuck on razor wire where families got trapped. Chainsaw devices in the middle of buoys. Land seized from US citizens.

Operation Lone Star is barbaric — and @GovAbbott is making border communities collateral damage. pic.twitter.com/PzKyZGWfds

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) August 8, 2023

The problem with that statement is that it’s not true, according to former Biden border chief Rodney Scott:

“When I was Chief, USBP tested numerous variations of buoy barrier features to include what some are calling a ‘saw’ blade,” Scott said. “It is actually called a passive radial disc. It is an anti-climb deterrent and was tested by USBP in 2020 and determined to be passive and make climbers uncomfortable but would not break skin or injure a person,” Scott told the DCNF.

“During testing, USBP personnel jumped on top of it from different platforms without issue. The teeth were designed to avoid injuring illegal aliens,” Scott said.

Not surprisingly, some in the media are pushing a similar narrative. Exhibit A – KXAN’s Ryan Chandler:

After a body was found “stuck in” Texas’ buoy barriers, take a look at what these actually look like. There’s a sharp piece of metal in between each buoy.
Took this the day before the body was found. pic.twitter.com/cnCqK3omye

— Ryan Chandler (@RyanChandlerTV) August 3, 2023

As have other left-wing Twitter accounts:

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has put a 300-meter-long buoy barrier with saw blades in the Rio Grande.

At least two people have been found dead in the river since it was installed. pic.twitter.com/0BYw6K5ehX

— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 11, 2023

Relatedly, a spokesperson for Abbott said in response to the “chainsaw” allegation that the buoys were designed to direct migrants to where they should have gone to begin with:

These marine barriers help deter illegal river crossings, redirecting migrants to use one of the 29 international bridges on the Texas-Mexico border where they can safely and legally cross. No one drowns on a bridge.

And speaking of drowning, another false claim out there is that Abbott’s buoys are responsible for the death of a migrant child.

Democrat strategist Sawyer Hackett, whose Twitter profile lists him as a senior advisor to failed 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro (brother of Joaquin), posted this to his Twitter account Friday, alleging that Abbott’s “razor wire buoys” caused a child to die:

Greg Abbott is already responsible for a child dying in his razor wire buoy stunt. Now another child has died in his stunt to abduct and ship migrants out of state.

He has blood on his hands. He shouldn’t be sued, he should be prosecuted. https://t.co/EVPHcPhaJI

— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) August 12, 2023

Hackett used the same term on Saturday.

For starters, the buoys do not appear to have razor wire installed on them. As you can see in the below photo, the razor wire is on land, at and near the river’s edge:

#BREAKING: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is refusing to take down floating barriers in the Rio Grande in direct defiance of the Biden administration's order to remove the buoys. https://t.co/eKkY0A8WpN

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 24, 2023

Secondly, Hackett was Community Noted on Twitter, with it being pointed out that not only have the buoys reportedly not caused any deaths, but that the two bodies recovered by Mexican authorities last week including one near the barrier were not minors:

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department reported Wednesday that a body had been found along the floating barrier. The Coahuila state prosecutor’s office later told local media outlets that the two bodies were recovered and that the process of identification was underway.

Mexico’s migration agency on Thursday confirmed one victim was from Honduras and the other was Mexican. Neither victim was a minor, the agency said.

Further, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the body found near the barrier likely floated there from another location:

Mexican officials condemned the barrier’s installment in two separate notes reporting that bodies were found in the Rio Grande. But Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said preliminary information indicates that the first person found dead had “drowned upstream from the marine barrier and floated into the buoys.”

“There are personnel posted at the marine barrier at all times in case any migrants try to cross,” McCraw said in a statement by the public safety department obtained by CBS News.

Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesperson for Texas DPS, said in the same statement that the department “received a report of a possible drowning victim floating upstream from the marine barrier” on Wednesday and notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Mexican consulate.

You are a liar, Sawyer. https://t.co/FMyNj52P0b pic.twitter.com/GhRobBbKqR

— ☘️Tabatha- SSG Ginger (ret) 🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇪 (@Winning4Him) August 12, 2023

I should also note that an infant child was found dead in the Rio Grande last month, but it was over July 4th weekend, which was before the buoys were installed. Strangely, Hackett had nothing to say about that:

Authorities in Texas recovered four bodies, including an infant girl, from a river along the U.S.-Mexico border over just 48 hours, officials said Monday.

Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesperson with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said two of the bodies were pulled from the Rio Grande on Saturday, one on Sunday and another on Monday.

Fox News border correspondent Bill Melugin, who has probably spent more time at the southern border over the last three years than Sawyer Hackett will in his entire lifetime, also reminded folks that Hackett has a troubling history when it comes to claims about incidents that supposedly have occurred at the border, most notably the media-/Biden administration-driven CBP migrant “whipping” hoax:

.@SawyerHackett has never waited for the facts before trying to push a narrative at the border. He was the original source of the false claim that Border Patrol agents were “whipping” Haitian migrants. Now he claims a child died in TX razor wire (false) and is also claiming Gov. Abbott should be prosecuted for death of a migrant child on a TX bus when an autopsy hasn’t even been done and there’s no cause of death yet. Never misses an opportunity to push a narrative.

.@SawyerHackett has never waited for the facts before trying to push a narrative at the border. He was the original source of the false claim that Border Patrol agents were “whipping” Haitian migrants. Now he claims a child died in TX razor wire (false) and is also claiming Gov.… https://t.co/67nOPR9s1g pic.twitter.com/5yYpMa13kr

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 12, 2023

Here’s what the Texas Division of Emergency Management had to say about the child’s death:

New: A child died on a bus of migrants Gov. Abbott sent to Chicago.

TDEM says the child was with their parents and received medical care after the bus pulled over. Each passenger was checked for medical conditions before departure.

Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/EoWTAyTqra

— Ryan Chandler (@RyanChandlerTV) August 11, 2023

The death of a child is always a tragedy. It’s just too bad that the only time Democrats seem to care is when they think they can blame it on a Republican governor or president.

— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —

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