Marjorie Taylor Greene Lies About Mexican Cartel Bomb
On Tuesday, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene took to Twitter to make a bold claim. In her tweet, she asserted that Border Patrol Agents had discovered an explosive on January 17th, and used this false information to bolster her call for the United States Military to engage in conflict with Mexico. The tweet was seen by an audience of 1.8 million users.
However, as it turns out, Representative Greene's statement was entirely untrue. According to the Chief of the U.S Border Patrol, Raul Ortiz, who spoke on the matter earlier today, the device in question was in fact filled with sand and was not an explosive at all.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed his reporting to Newsweek.
"Today, Chief Raul L. Ortiz testified before the Committee on Homeland Security in Pharr, Texas," according to a CBP spokesperson.
"During the testimony, it was alleged that U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered an explosive device planted by the cartel along the border on January 17, 2023. The object in question, found on January 17, was determined to be sand wrapped in duct tape with a rope protruding from the top to resemble a wick. Leadership was briefed on the incident during daily internal executive team meetings who conveyed the object was fake and posed no threat towards U.S. Border Patrol agents or the public."
During a field hearing in Texas on Wednesday with U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene pressed the Ortiz on how the agency was addressing a surge in the transportation of the lethal drug fentanyl across the southern border by Mexican drug cartels.
Greene's line of questioning included the same claim that Border Patrol agents had discovered a "bomb" in a lightly patrolled sector of the southern border in January, which she asserted was evidence of the cartels' active hostility towards the agency.
Ortiz, declined to provide details about the alleged discovery of the bomb, citing confidentiality concerns, and indicated that he would be hesitant to disclose any information he had about the incident.
The recklessness of spreading such misinformation is not to be taken lightly. As a QAnon conspiracy theorist, Representative Greene poses a serious danger to the security and well-being of the United States of America.