More Border Patrol Agents died in the line of duty during 2021 than in any other time since the agency’s inception. The line-of-duty deaths of 15 Border Patrol agents mark a grim milestone in the agency’s history. https://t.co/ZOHWeT9Jtp
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 2, 2022
It’s not until the third paragraph of the story that Breitbart mentions “Of the 15 agents who died in 2021, 13 died in the line of duty as a result of COVID-19. Two were killed in vehicle-related accidents”, which, to say the least, is not even close to what the tweet implies. The Washington Post reported on November 13th that about 20% of the Border Patrol officers and staff were not vaccinated. Deaths of public safety personnel due to COVID-19 are classified as “on duty” regardless of circumstances, per the Safeguarding America’s First Responders Act of 2020.
So Breitbart gets to call these preventable deaths “in the line of duty” and rile up the MAGA assholes into thinking they were murdered by cartel terrorists and Democrats, by extension. “Thanks to the Democrat party,” says the top comment on the story. Mission accomplished.