Video of Kamala Harris Blasting Border Treatment of Migrants Viewed Over 1M Times

A video of Vice President Kamala Harris criticizing images of Border Patrol agents on horseback while dealing with migrants at the southern border has been viewed more than one million times on Twitter.

Harris made the comments after video and photographs emerged of horse-riding agents chasing Haitian migrants along the Rio Grande and trying to prevent them from returning to a camp underneath the Del Rio International Bridge.

The agents appeared to be using long reins to handle their horses and some critics initially said the agents seemed to have whips. Harris joined calls for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to investigate the matter.

Harris told reporters on September 21: "What I saw depicted about those individuals on horseback treating human beings the way they were, was horrible."

"And I fully support what is happening right now, which is a thorough investigation into exactly what is going on there," she said.

"But human beings should never be treated that way. And I'm deeply troubled about it," Harris said.

The vice president went on: "The whole point is that we have to understand Haiti—I mean, talk about a country that has just experienced so much tragedy, that it's been about natural disasters, the head of state assassinated, and we really have to do a lot to recognize that as a member of the western hemisphere we've got to support some very basic needs that the people of Haiti have."

Video of Harris' remarks shared by Twitter account Breaking911 had been viewed 1.3 million times by Wednesday morning.

Other Democrats were also critical of the Border Patrol agents, with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi criticizing what she called "the inappropriate use of what appear to be whips by Border Patrol officers on horseback to intimidate migrants."

However, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and other DHS officials suggested that some who had viewed the images had mistaken the long reins for whips, while The Associated Press (AP) reported that their review of the videos and images showed no agents with whips or using their reins like whips when dealing with migrants.

Mayorkas told Texas Public Radio on Monday that the agents use long reins to control the horses but added: "But we are going to investigate the facts to ensure that the situation is as we understand it to be and if it's anything different, we will respond accordingly."

Thousands of migrants, most of them Haitian, had been encamped under the Del Rio International Bridge near the small Texas town of Del Rio. Many of the Haitian migrants had not come directly from Haiti but through other countries in South and Central America. Officials said more than 6,000 migrants had been removed by Monday.

UPDATE 09/22/21 5.01am E.T.: This article was updated to include a new image.