President Trump on Thursday warned members of the Central American migrant caravan that the military deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border will treat throwing a rock the same as a firearm attack.
“Anybody throwing stones, rocks — like they did to Mexico and the Mexican military, Mexican police, where they badly hurt police and soldiers of Mexico — we will consider that a firearm because there’s not much difference,” Trump told reporters during a press conference at the White House Thursday evening.
“Because there’s not much difference when you get hit in the face with a rock,” Trump said.
It’s not clear how the military would respond to nonfirearm assaults since those deployed to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel are serving in support capacities and not enforcement roles.
Some of these tasks include monitoring cameras and sensors by the border, then alerting border agents if they need to respond to suspicious activity. As military, they cannot actually arrest people themselves.
A Pentagon spokesman told the Washington Examiner Thursday evening it would not speak to “hypothetical” situations that could occur when the caravans reach the U.S. border.
“We will not discuss hypothetical situations or specific measures within our rules on the use of force, but our forces are trained professionals who always have the inherent right of self-defense,” Lt. Col. Jamie Davis wrote in an email.
On Oct. 16, the Mexican government deployed hundreds of federal police, including General Commissioner Manelich Castilla, and officers from the National Institute of Migration, the country’s immigration agency, to Tapachula, Chiapas.
Four days later, the first of the two caravans from Central America arrived at the Guatemala-Mexico International Bridge. The group filled the entire bridge and attempted to push through to Mexico. Police unleashed tear gas and smoke canisters, injuring an unspecified number of migrants, according to CNN.
State Secretary Mike Pompeo said four police officers were injured as a result of the stand-off.
The second group reached the Guatemala-Mexico border Sunday and was more violent than the first, as Trump noted during his remarks.
Guatemala’s Interior Ministry said their police officers were pushed back by the caravan despite having set up road barriers to keep people from attempting to get past them.
Mexican officials said some in the group hit police with rocks, glass bottles, guns, and firebombs, according to Daily Mail reporters at the site of the fights.
On Sunday, migrants threw rocks and stones at police. One teenage boy from the caravan died during the group’s attempt to illegally enter Mexico.
Chiapas is one of two Mexican states that border Guatemala, where the caravan of then-2,000 people was expected to try to cross into Mexico.
Mexico’s Interior Ministry had warned it would only allow those granted visas to cross into the country. Those in the caravan would have had to have applied for visas at the Mexican consulates in Honduras.
Despite the preparation efforts, the group pushed past law enforcement and entered Mexico after being told not to do so illegally.
“That was very violent a few days ago. Very, very violent. That break-in, it was a break-in to a country, they broke into Mexico,” Trump said Thursday.
Travis Tritten contributed to this report.
