Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is visiting several Border Patrol detention centers today. After leaving the first one, AOC tweeted that Border Patrol had locked women in cells with no water and told them to drink from the toilet.

Just left the 1st CBP facility.

I see why CBP officers were being so physically &sexually threatening towards me.

Officers were keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of the toilets.

This was them on their GOOD behavior in front of members of Congress.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2019

Here she is making the claim to a group of reporters as she is leaving the site: “This is CPB on their best behavior, telling people to drink out of a toilet.”

https://twitter.com/KatzOnEarth/status/1145762778537496578

As you can see, there weren’t any follow up questions. But AOC had more to say on Twitter:

Now I’ve seen the inside of these facilities.

It’s not just the kids. It’s everyone. People drinking out of toilets, officers laughing in front of members Congress.

I brought it up to their superiors. They said “officers are under stress & act out sometimes.” No accountability.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2019

After I forced myself into a cell w/ women&began speaking to them, one of them described their treatment at the hands of officers as “psychological warfare” – waking them at odd hours for no reason, calling them wh*res, etc.

Tell me what about that is due to a “lack of funding?”

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2019

Rep. Judy Chu is backing her up, though she is more careful to say that one woman claimed one agent had said this. AOC’s tweet makes it sound as this was part of some sort of routine. Chu’s description makes it sound more like one agent who, I think it’s fair to say, was being unprofessional. [Actually, see below: There appear to be small sinks above the toilets in these facilities which AOC failed to mention. The agent was probably telling her to drink from the sink.]

"If you want water, just drink from a toilet." That's what border patrol told one thirsty woman we met on today's #DemsAtTheBorder trip. These are the same CBP personnel who threatened to throw burritos at members of Congress. Changes must be made. #DontLookAway pic.twitter.com/dW34DRduDA

— Judy Chu (@RepJudyChu) July 1, 2019

Meanwhile, a reporter for the DC Examiner claims that AOC was screaming at agents and refused a tour of the facility:

https://twitter.com/Anna_Giaritelli/status/1145783156819341318

CPB should make a good faith investigation to find out what is happening here. Meanwhile, there’s another reason AOC may be justifiably upset with some Border Patrol agents today. A ProPublica story published today looked at a Facebook group which featured Border Patrol agents and misogynist memes about AOC:

Created in August 2016, the Facebook group is called “I’m 10-15” and boasts roughly 9,500 members from across the country. (10-15 is Border Patrol code for “aliens in custody.”) The group described itself, in an online introduction, as a forum for “funny” and “serious” discussion about work with the patrol…

Perhaps the most disturbing posts target Ocasio-Cortez. One includes a photo illustration of her engaged in oral sex at an immigrant detention center. Text accompanying the image reads, “Lucky Illegal Immigrant Glory Hole Special Starring AOC.”

Another is a photo illustration of a smiling President Donald Trump forcing Ocasio-Cortez’s head toward his crotch. The agent who posted the image commented: “That’s right bitches. The masses have spoken and today democracy won.”

It’s not surprising some agents are angry at being compared to concentration camp guards by AOC, but stuff like this is completely unprofessional and only helps AOC paint the entire organization with a broad brush, which of course, she did:

9,500 CBP officers sharing memes about dead migrants and discussing violence and sexual misconduct towards members of Congress.

How on earth can CBP’s culture be trusted to care for refugees humanely?

PS I have no plans to change my itinerary & will visit the CBP station today.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2019

There are 20,000 TOTAL Customs & Border Patrol agents in the US.

9,500 – almost HALF that number – are in a racist & sexually violent secret CBP Facebook group.

They’re threatening violence on members of Congress. How do you think they’re treating caged children+families? https://t.co/AfDB50cgHQ

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2019

For the record, it’s not clear that the 9,500 people in the Facebook group are all current agents. Some may be retired agents. Some may not be agents at all. And it’s possible the offensive content is not representative of everything people in the group are saying or posting. But I suspect the agents identified in the ProPublica report are going to be disciplined soon. Here’s CPB’s response to the story which calls some of the memes and statements “disturbing” and “completely inappropriate.”

.@USBPChief: These posts are completely inappropriate and contrary to the honor and integrity I see—and expect—from our agents day in and day out. Any employees found to have violated our standards of conduct will be held accountable.

— CBP (@CBP) July 1, 2019

Finally, since this is going to be news today, it’s worth pointing out that CPB continues to rescue people on the border even as they are being compared to the Nazis. This happened last Tuesday and I think it’s fair to say this is actually CPB on their best behavior:

ICYMI: Border Patrol agents revived a 13-year-old who was drowning in the Rio Grande. The teen had been underwater for more than a minute. Agents quickly performed CPR. He eventually coughed up water and regained consciousness. More: https://t.co/C9eXhYz9bb pic.twitter.com/Cklx2loIGy

— CBP (@CBP) June 29, 2019

Update: Here’s another account of the toilet story as told by Rep. Joaquin Castro:

https://twitter.com/KatzOnEarth/status/1145789634879918083

Update: Is this what the Border Patrol agent meant? These photos come from 2015 in Arizona, but notice the small sink above the toilet and the sign that reads potable water:

As @AOC noted, people held in CBP custody are often asked to drink out of toilets, which is disgusting for those held in those facilities. Here's an example of one cell where a toilet/fountain in a cell has "Agua Potable" written above it. pic.twitter.com/dUJKzWaOHH

— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) July 1, 2019

Here’s a closer view:

This picture was taken when our experts toured the facility as part of the lawsuit. This was inside a cell. There was no trash can. Soap dispensers were often empty.

Let me ask: would YOU drink from that water fountain? pic.twitter.com/uYKm6Elxux

— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) July 1, 2019

As a brief addendum, here are some more pictures of disgusting conditions in cells in the Tucson Sector border patrol facilities from 2015. There were also broken water fountains in some cells. pic.twitter.com/Xpv42aUxkj

— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) July 1, 2019

It looks somewhat gross but AOC and the rest of the Democrats looking to stir up outrage could have pointed out that there were sinks above the toilets. I’m revising my assessment of the agent in question.

Update: Way back at the top of this thread there was a tweet from AOC about agents laughing in front of members of Congress:

Now I’ve seen the inside of these facilities.

It’s not just the kids. It’s everyone. People drinking out of toilets, officers laughing in front of members Congress.

I brought it up to their superiors. They said “officers are under stress & act out sometimes.” No accountability.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2019

Now the Washington Examiner has a story up fleshing out what happened on the first stop of the tour today. AOC left the group to sit with a family in a holding area, then returned “screaming”:

“She comes out screaming at our agents, right at the beginning [of the tour] … Crying and screaming and yelling,” said one witness who said he was stunned by the outburst in front of approximately 40 people…

A second official said that while she was around agents, Ocasio-Cortez commented at another point about an unofficial Border Patrol Facebook page that was exposed earlier Monday for offensive content about those in custody and lawmakers, including the congresswoman.

“Something under her breath, ‘Oh, all these guys in here are gonna f–k me.’ The agents are standing there behind the computers. One of the agents laughed at something he was saying to another agent, and she got irate and flipped out,” the second Border Patrol official said. “Now they’re under investigation for it. She took it as they were laughing at her and screams at them and says, ‘What’s so funny?’”

It sounds as if the laughter wasn’t directed at AOC or at the lawmakers at all but I guess AOC thinks it was.

Update 7/2: Yeah, there was a sink but AOC now claims it wasn’t working. Is this true? Did the agent know it wasn’t working? How does she know?

This was in fact the type of toilet we saw in the cell.

Except there was just one, and the sink portion was not functioning – @AyannaPressley smartly tried to open the faucet, and nothing came out.

So the women were told they could drink out of the bowl. https://t.co/rcu9Rt6B2x

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2019