ICE blasts ‘fact checker’ for New Yorker after she mistook ICE worker’s tattoo for Nazi symbol

by The Right Scoop

A ‘fact-checker’ for the New Yorker is being called out by ICE for mistaking a veteran and ICE agent’s tattoo for a Nazi symbol.

Here’s the story:

NY POST – A Harvard-educated fact-checker for the New Yorker is being excoriated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for “baselessly slandering” a Marine veteran — by falsely accusing him of having a Nazi tattoo, according to reports.

Officials with ICE are now demanding that the New Yorker and Talia Lavin apologize over her erroneous tweet about Justin Gaertner.

In the gaffe, Lavin allegedly implied over the weekend that Gaertner, a combat-wounded veteran and ICE forensics analyst, had the Nazi symbol of an “Iron Cross” inked on his elbow.

But she deleted her post after “military veterans responded that the tattoo looked more like a Maltese cross, a symbol associated with firefighters,” ICE said in a statement.

The tattoo, according to Gaertner, is actually a “Titan 2” symbol for his platoon when he served in Afghanistan.

“The writing on his right arm is the Spartan Creed which is about protecting family and children,” ICE said. “Anyone attempting to advance their personal political opinions by baselessly slandering an American hero should be issuing public apologies to Mr. Gaertner and retractions. This includes Levin [sic] and the New Yorker.”

Gaertner lost both of his legs and suffered other permanent injuries when an IED exploded during his deployment to Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He served as a fire team leader and lead sweeper for IEDs.

Now Gaertner is a para-Olympic athlete who has “volunteered his time to motivate other wounded warriors and Boston bombing victims,” according to ICE. With the immigration agency, he helps solve criminal cases related to sexually abused children.

Lavin made her Twitter account private following the backlash over her tweet – which was in response to a May 25 ICE post that featured a photo of Gaertner.

The New Yorker issued an apology Monday that distanced itself from Lavin, according to the National Review.

Here’s the full statement by ICE:

ICE is under full attack by media and Democrats over some children being separated from family when they enter illegally or apply for asylum. Here’s another horrendous attack on them from the Occupy Wall Street crowd:

Vile and despicable. But this is just what the left does when they need to win elections. They find some issue and then go absolutely insane about it. They did it with Trayvon Martin, Ferguson, and now this.


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