Reports that charges were dropped against the alleged Rockville rapists led Univision to revert to its usual biases, with coverage that smeared conservatives and took immigration advocacy reporting to an absurd extreme.
It is no stretch whatsoever to say that Univision's grotesque coverage of the Rockville developments echoed that of the rest of the establishment media - that is, to treat dropped rape charges due to a quirk in Maryland's rape statute as though it were a Cinco De Mayo Miracle.
Here's how Univision anchor Jorge Ramos framed the story.
JORGE RAMOS, SENIOR NEWS ANCHOR, UNIVISION: Very good evening. One of the cases most used by Donald Trump's Administration and the conservative media in order to depict undocumented immigrants as criminals is crumbling. Charges were dropped against two undocumented teenagers who were accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in a Maryland school.
The actual facts of the case took a back seat to the optics of whether "conservative media" and Trump now look bad for having pointed out the immigration status of these youths.
White House correspondent Janet Rodríguez's report omits the details of the "age gap" provisions of Maryland's rape statutes that led to a finding of consent by a 14-year-old girl - a provision that does not exist in most states, where the acts depicted in the police report would still subject the young men to life felonies. Univision viewers are left to ponder how it is, exactly, that a 14-year-old girl can consent to the events described in the police report, or why Univision so gleefuly reports on this "consent".
Rodríguez also downplayed the remaining charges pending against the young illegal immigrants, by describing the possession of lewd material allegedly sent by the victim in this case as "possession of pornographic material", and not the more factually accurate "possession of child pornography", a very serious charge that leads to certain deportation.
This rush to gloat over a "loss" for Trump and conservative media and a "win" for the amnesty agenda is in stark contrast to the sober, factual reporting that Univision provided on the day that news of the alleged Rockville Rape broke.
Needless to say, there was no balance this time. Unlike last time, there was no attorney present to inform Univision's viewers on the law. There was only advocacy: both by the journalists involved and by the only "analysis" provided, which came from an activist at one of the most radical regional open-borders organizations: CASA Maryland.
The only thing still "crumbling" here is whatever might be left of Univision's credibility as a news organization.
Below is a full transcript of the above mentioned report as it aired on Noticiero Univision on Friday, May 5, 2017.
JORGE RAMOS, UNIVISION ANCHOR: Very good evening. One of the cases most used by Donald Trump's Administration and the conservative media in order to depict undocumented immigrants as criminals is crumbling. Charges were dropped against two undocumented teenagers who were accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in a Maryland school. Janet Rodríguez tells us why, after reviewing all the evidence, prosecutors dropped the charges.
JANET RODRIGUEZ, UNIVISION WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Maryland state attorneys failed to find sufficient evidence to support rape charges against two young undocumented (immigrants). One of their attorneys celebrated.
"I commend the state's attorney's office for doing the correct thing in dropping the rape charges", she said. Her client José Montano, aged 17; and Henry Sánchez Milián, 18, had been accused of violently raping a 14-year-old girl at a Maryland high school back in March. However, after the investigation, the State's Attorney concluded that the act was performed with the girl's consent.
Well before the courts could decide these youths' future, some conservative forums had already convicted them, and used them as an example in order to support President Trump's immigration policies.
The White House's own Spokesperson had at one time referred to the case as "horrendous". And he stated that tragedies such as these justified President Trump's actions and priorities on immigration.
The administration did not retract Spicer's remarks today, and only stated that they would have to review the court;s decision. This activist is worried that it might be too late to repair the damage that has been done:
MARITZA SOLANO, CASA MARYLAND: They are having an impact in that all the immigrants that come here are prone to want to do violent acts or rapes of that sort in this country when, really, most of them come for economic reasons, in fact fleeing from violence.
JANET RODRIGUEZ: The youths will face less severe charges of possession of pornographic material. Both also have immigration processes (pending) and this afternoon an ICE official confirmed that Sánchez Milián's case is going forward. Regarding the other case, he states that he cannot comment. In Rockville, Maryland: Janet Rodríguez, Univision.
