Wearing a tactical green armored vest and a stern look, Fox News contributor Lawrence Jones looked more ready for eastern Syria than the southern U.S. border.
Jones appeared on Sean Hannity’s program this week show to discuss the border in “crisis,” using the stark terms of border officials and President Trump, who has driven home violent imagery on the borderlands to justify moving billions of dollars from defense spending to construct a wall.
To a viewer, it was not clear from the segment whether Jones faced any threat of violence.
In other moments of the segments aired Wednesday and Thursday, Jones and his border agent escort wore no vests as they stood on the banks of the Rio Grande and roamed scrub land at night.
I started my journalism career on the US/Mexico border working at a television station near the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona.
While there, including the immediate aftermath of 9/11, I did endless stories from the border: From the controversy of humanitarians leaving water on trails in the desert, to massive immigrant deaths in the 110 degree summer weather, to covering federal officials, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft who spoke about the “life threatening and oppressive conditions that confront people trying to illegally cross the border.”
At no time did border patrol insist any journalist wear a bullet proof vest.
Responding to criticism later on Twitter that he overplayed the actual threat, Jones said border officials “instructed” him to wear it for a ride-along.
The criticism spun to Thursday evening, when Jones appeared on Hannity’s show to continue his defense, doubling down with a different armor vest that would offer more ballistic protection.
It’s not clear why Jones swapped for more protection after catching flak on social media, why he wore a vest but no helmet, or if he was directed to wear anything by agents.
Customs and Border Protection has not commented.
In his Thursday segment, he wore a vest that houses ballistic armor plates to protect vital organs.
It is not clear he wore the actual plates inserted.
The vests themselves typically have soft armor commonly rated for smaller, handgun-type ammunition.
[READ: I’ve Covered The Border & A Big Wall Is Just A Political Symbol Not Effective Deterrent]
Other people who have done similar segments called Jones out.
“This is totally ridiculous. I have never once worn a bulletproof vest at the border, nor has CBP ever asked me to — even while on a chase with Border Patrol to apprehend migrants in remote Arizona desert in the middle of the night,” said Jacob Soboroff, an MSNBC correspondent. “Because. The. Border. Is. Not. A. War. Zone.”
Images matter when they convey an idea to an audience of millions, on a network the president’s surrogates have used as a platform to argue for stricter immigration policies and the wall.
Trump has portrayed the border as a frontier marked by unrelenting violence, while more often the opposite is true.
The vest Jones wore on Wednesday had a Customs and Border Protection patch or badge affixed alongside empty pouches, and it is possible the vest was provided to help border agents identify Jones as a vetted reporter.
It is not clear whether that was a safety regulation or what kind of safety a plate carrier with minimal ballistic protection but no helmet is meant to provide.
Jones appeared in other segments in dress shirts.
Jones was dispatched to Laredo, Tex., a border town that has seen falling violence in the past decade and that, in 2016, had a lower rate of violent crime than the state average, the Laredo Morning Times reported, citing FBI data.
In fact, crime rates in U.S. border counties are lower than the average for similarly sized inland counties, with one exception out of a total of 23, according to the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank.
Laredo’s Webb County, where Jones filed his report, is safer than 80 percent of comparable counties nationwide, the institute said, using FBI crime statistics.
“There is no doubt, the U.S. side [of the border] is a very safe place,” said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the institute.
Social media had a field day with the segments:
I don't want to join a twitter mob attack on Lawrence Jones III, best of luck to him reporting. But FYI us journalists covering Mexico rarely wear bullet proof vests even in most violent cities. For a bunch of reasons, it's not practical. It's certainly unnecessary on U.S. side. https://t.co/YP33UIV7xF
— Ioan Grillo (@ioangrillo) April 4, 2019
Lawrence Jones took the body armor off a K-9 and is now pretending he’s in a war zone. https://t.co/rE1KH5tIp0
— Ken (@KenGarciaTorres) April 4, 2019
lawrence jones III from foxnews reporting on the rebel scum pic.twitter.com/NLdUy6RsFo
— DJ Rylas (@DJ_RYLAS) April 4, 2019
PATHETIC SIMULATION:
1. Lawrence Jones uses a protective vest on Sean Hannity’s show.
2. According to him; he has been shown the “crisis” at the border.
3. The vest is just a scam, it doesn’t hold a protective ballistic plate. @FoxNews STOP SPREADING MISINFORMATION! pic.twitter.com/lHIs3MHwnr— Hans Linz (@financelinz) April 5, 2019
Fox News reporter Lawrence Jones III gets some backup (this time, with a security clearance) as he reports from the Border (or Boarder, if you are Donald Trump) … one of the safest places in America. pic.twitter.com/Gh9Fo1hc9G
— mmmm… brisket (@LosBilbilocos) April 4, 2019
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a REAL "crisis actor": Lawrence Jones III of Fox News! pic.twitter.com/frDDtq6Z81
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 6, 2019
Live shot of Fox's Lawrence Jones getting ready for his spot tonight pic.twitter.com/ACACsbTh4C
— Gus Contreras (@GusContreras21) April 5, 2019