Facebook posts put US Border Patrol on defensive at rough time

FILE - This May 20, 2019 file photo shows the Border Patrol Station in Weslaco, Texas. A 16-year-old from Guatemala died of complications of the flu while in the U.S. Border Patrol custody, according to new preliminary autopsy findings, alarming doctors who questioned whether immigration authorities had missed warning signs or chances to save his life. Carlos Hernandez Vasquez contracted bacterial infections in addition to the flu that led to multiple organ failure, according to a report released by Hidalgo County authorities this week. He died on May 20. A full autopsy is still pending. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, File)

SAN DIEGO: Before the rise of social media, Border Patrol agents gathered in parking lots at the end of their shifts for what was known as “choir practice” – a chance to share what they saw that day and anything else on their minds. 

T.J. Bonner, who led the National Border Patrol Council during much of his 32-year career as an agent, recalled the defunct tradition while trying to explain a secret Facebook group for agents that included sexually explicit posts about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and questioned the authenticity of a recent photo of a father and daughter who drowned in the Rio Grande.