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Texas Military Investigates Potential
Prostitution in Border Troop Ranks
Capitol Inside
May 10, 2022
The Texas Military Department launched an investigation on Tuesday into reports of women spending hours in cars and trucks with National Guard members parked at the Rio Grande in Del Rio - a blatant violation of policy that forbids the troops that are stationed at the border from partaking in such apparent pleasures.
The state agency in charge of the Texas National Guard moved swiftly with the probe in response to a Fox News video that appears to show a woman climbing out of an armored jeep and getting into an SUV beside it. Fox News reporter Ali Bradley also tweeted a photo with a woman leaving a smaller car with a man who appears to be a soldier kissing and holding hands with another female in the background.
People in neighborhoods on the river say that women were showing up at the same post on a daily basis for long periods of time. The TMD said "non-operational personnel at security positions" are prohibited from engaging in the behavior that has some of the citizens of Del Rio are finding offensive and troubling at a time when record numbers of migrants have been drowning in the river that Texas troops are assigned to guard.
"The Texas Military Department takes our obligation to the people of Texas very seriously, and values the trust placed in us," the agency said in a statement today. "Any action by a Service Member that undermines that trust will not be tolerated."
The TMD didn't use the term prostitution in the announcement on the investigation into the apparent social activities at the river. But that appears to be focus of the inquiry as the latest in a long line of embarrassments for the migrant and drug fighting mission that Governor Greg Abbott has been directing at the Rio Grande for more than a year.
"The Texas Military Department remains committed to providing safety and security for our state along the southern border," the TMD added. The agency said that infractions of protocol would be "addressed accordingly" in the message on the commingling of women with Texas Guard members who are on duty.
more to come ... |
