Is the Fox News correspondent wearing bulletproof vest at the border??? pic.twitter.com/8RTOE6xizx
— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) April 4, 2019
Fox News contributor Lawrence Jones III has become Twitter’s brief center of attention this week over a Hannity segment filmed at the southern US border at Laredo, Texas, just a short distance away from one of the “three Mexican countries.” During part of the segment on Wednesday night, Jones told host Sean Hannity that “a lot of these criminals come out at night to make these crossings,” while he donned a tiny “tactical” vest, the word tactical being in quotes because this vest is lacking both adequate coverage and bulletproof inserts. It’s hard to resist the temptation to look at the vest while singing, Chris Farley-style, “News guy in a little vest…”
People made jokes and memes about the vest (see further down below), pointing out both the small size and the lack of plates (meaning it was just for show). Plenty of folks, including other journalists, lambasted the uselessness of the vest or even accused Jones of trying to make potential border crossers in the Laredo, Texas, area appear more dangerous to inflame the home viewers’ anger and fright. (The violent crime rate in Laredo, Texas, is 16.5% lower than the statewide average, according to the FBI.)
Here’s another look at the vest, which spurred more questions and jokes:
https://twitter.com/LawrenceBJones3/status/1113763507101741056
Why is a Fox News reporter wearing a tiny bulletproof vest with a federal government logo on it? https://t.co/OxWOYATzlN
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) April 4, 2019
What is this? A vest for ants? https://t.co/WW5SfBkR1n
— Jessica Luther (@jessicawluther) April 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/KELLYWEILL/status/1113823023491166209
https://twitter.com/jkass99/status/1113830317947637760
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1113852935065280512
When you buy a vest on the Internet
— 💧inthecheapseats (@inthecheapseat1) April 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/KorsakoffK/status/1113821695377387520
Jones took to Twitter throughout the day on Thursday to defend himself, saying “Border patrol made me wear it”:
Border patrol made me wear it. Now, who's the fool? https://t.co/8ytTDLATth
— Lawrence Jones III (@LawrenceBJones3) April 4, 2019
Bruh, save it. Did I say it was a war zone or did you ignorantly assume that because I was wearing a vest? Bottom line: CBP instructed me to put on one of their vests during my ride along. Period. https://t.co/7DSimIu4sH
— Lawrence Jones III (@LawrenceBJones3) April 4, 2019
Easy. The agent standing right in front of me RIGHT NOW said, “when you’re with me I’m responsible for your safety. So you’re putting on a vest.” https://t.co/hHbxZc5EML
— Lawrence Jones III (@LawrenceBJones3) April 5, 2019
Not everyone was buying it:
https://twitter.com/crushingbort/status/1113890025480032256
https://twitter.com/SingedPhoenix/status/1113849937140146176
https://twitter.com/jamiepastore/status/1113833340333895683
That vest has no plates in it, they're pulled tight with plates (so no wrinkles), plus even with plates should be sitting 2-3" higher at top of sternum. This serves no protection, only purpose to look tacticool and make viewers think the border is dangerous.
100% propaganda.
— good luck it's gonna get worse (@mutualisk) April 4, 2019
I've previously criticized journos for playing dress-up in PPE. Last time it was someone who worked for MSNBC. This time it's someone who works for Fox. Being a poseur with no respect for journalistic integrity & lacking common sense about how PPE works is a non-partisan flaw.
— Mac William Bishop (@MacWBishop) April 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/RealBrianCutter/status/1113827907196071936
I respect and admire your tactical apron sir
— america's lounge singer (@KrangTNelson) April 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/1113820587254636545
Serious question @LawrenceBJones3 : why are you wearing a bulletproof vest with no plates? Did you ask them? Since they made you wear it—did you wonder why? https://t.co/EWWGQXCbdB
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 4, 2019
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.
Because. The. Border. Is. Not. A. War. Zone. https://t.co/Q1V95e7N5x
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) April 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/RealBrianCutter/status/1113821440632131585
Matters only got more complicated from there when people noticed Jones had tweeted a picture of himself with CBP without the vest:
Coming up on @foxnews @seanhannity live from the border. pic.twitter.com/9xEu2xFTlZ
— Lawrence Jones III (@LawrenceBJones3) April 4, 2019
On Thursday night, Jones returned to Hannity in a bigger vest:
https://twitter.com/KT_So_It_Goes/status/1113979999902679040
Jones defended himself, saying CBP “told me to put it on to keep us safe here. Just two weeks ago — two months ago, I’m sorry — there was a shooting. What people don’t understand is that we control this side of the border, but the cartel controls the other side of the border, so there’s been gun fights.”
https://twitter.com/VidsPol/status/1114112236216311808
But the jokes didn’t stop, and we haven’t seen a Fox News personality turned into a meme this quickly since Pete Hegseth said germs aren’t real and Dana Perino made queso (those two stories have no overlap, we hope).
https://twitter.com/KT_So_It_Goes/status/1113995315525365761
This screenshot has the holy triptych: comical pretend flak jacket, the single Airpod to look like a true Tier One Operator, and "Coming Up: Lara Logan" pic.twitter.com/Xkn6X4iDWb
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) April 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/SmasChingon/status/1114030098179555329
Y’all need a good laugh? Look at this. Lawrence thinks he’s headed to a war zone. Is this gonna increase your speaking fees, Lawrence? Game recognize game. #AllAboutTheBenjamins https://t.co/Fvo2bINEpI
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) April 4, 2019
I respect the fact that the foxnews guy who got busted for wearing an empty tac vest for his on-camera shots of the border is sticking to his story even though literally nobody on earth believes him. that’s an army of one right there
— america's lounge singer (@KrangTNelson) April 5, 2019
(Hat tip to Newsweek, Buzzfeed News, and Super Punch)