Actress Anne Hathaway (pictured above left) had an extreme reaction to the clash at the border involving the Central American migrant caravan and Border Patrol agents earlier this week.
In an Instagram post, Hathaway made clear she was unhappy with the use of tear gas to defuse an escalating situation.
Undocumented migrants breached part of the U.S. border fencing in order to enter the country illegally, and these same people also threw rocks at border patrol agents with the intent of harming them.
The “Interstellar” and “Ocean’s 8” star wrote, “My country gassed children. There are no words for my horror.”
“To those who will immediately speak of ‘doing it the right way,’ who will ‘blame the parents for putting the children in this position,’ or say ‘they were storming the wall,’ and ‘they were throwing rocks’: The only human response to this monstrous use of force against LEGAL asylum seekers — against children — is condemnation, shame, and rage.”
Hathaway also posed this question to supporters of President Donald Trump: “For those that still believe in voting for the man who recommended using lethal force on families fleeing violence and persecution: This is the policy you like?”
There is a lot to unpack from Hathaway’s post.
First, tear gas was not really used against children as she is trying to suggest.
It was used against those trying to harm America’s border patrol agents. Wind picked up some of the tear gas and pushed it back, but the children were not the intended target.
Second, her use of the terminology “gassed” is misleading. The term seems to be associated more with lethal gassings, such as those used by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust or by Syria to kill its own civilians.
The United States did not kill anyone at the border on Sunday — nor was that the intent.
It’s also ironic that Hathaway would question how people could support President Trump because tear gas was used at the border. She herself wrote an op-ed for the Advocate endorsing then-President Barack Obama for re-election in 2012 — even though tear gas was used at the border 26 times alone that year, as Fox News and other outlets have reported.
Apparently, it was not worth condemning then.
Tom Joyce is a freelance writer from the South Shore of Massachusetts. He covers sports, pop culture, and politics and has contributed to The Federalist, Newsday, and other outlets.
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