The White House is doubling down on President Trump’s recent depiction of criminal aliens affiliated with the MS-13 gang as “animals” after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said last week the comparison was not “strong enough.”
The White House press office sent an email to reporters Monday laying out examples of the Latino gang’s tendency to carry out “unthinkable” violent attacks in the U.S.
“MS-13 is a transnational gang that has brought violence, fear, and suffering to American communities. MS-13, short for Mara Salvatrucha, commits shocking acts of violence to instill fear, including machete attacks, executions, gang rape, human trafficking, and more. In their motto, the animals of MS-13 make clear their goal is to ‘kill, rape, control.’ The gang has more than 10,000 members in the United States spreading violence and suffering,” the message said.
The White House cited the deaths of Long Island teenage girls Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas, whose parents attended the 2018 State of the Union as first lady Melania Trump’s guests, to illustrate gang members’ violent actions.
“Suffolk County Police Commissioner stated that the ‘murders show a level of brutality that is close to unmatched,'” the statement said. “Nearly 40 percent of all murders in Suffolk County, New York between January 2016 and June 2017 were tied to MS-13.”
In another case, the office said MS-13 members have been accused of stabbing a man more than 100 times before decapitating, dismembering him and removing his heart.
Trump slammed MS-13 during a sanctuary city meeting at the White House on May 16 and said the individuals who carry out crimes like those members have been convicted of are “animals.”
Multiple media outlets misreported the statement as Trump saying illegal immigrants are “animals.” The issue was brought up during last Thursday’s press conference and Sanders clarified the president had been responding to an attendee’s reference to MS-13 members, which transcripts of the roundtable discussion support.
Last Friday, Trump said the media was “begrudgingly forced” to withdraw reports regarding his Wednesday statement.
“Fake News got it purposely wrong, as usual!” Trump tweeted.
