WASHINGTON — Reporters from the United States’ most prominent outlets waited excitedly for the “special guest” touted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at her surprise briefing on Wednesday afternoon. Some hoped for President Donald Trump himself, and others speculated that Secretary of Education Linda McMahon or Attorney General Pam Bondi would appear by Leavitt’s side.
So it was with some surprise that their eyes followed the figure who emerged from behind the sliding door — a woman dressed completely in black, devoid of makeup or jewelry, her hands clasped together in front of her. She stood quietly behind Leavitt as the White House press secretary introduced her: She is Patty Morin, the mother of a woman brutally slain by illegal immigrant Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez as she was exercising on a Maryland trail.
The 23-year-old murderer was arrested in June in Tulsa, Oklahoma and charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape in Rachel Morin’s death.
And on Wednesday, before a room crowded with legacy reporters who repeatedly berate Leavitt over the deportation of illegal immigrant gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Morin quietly shared her story.
You could have heard a pin drop in the crowded James S. Brady Briefing room as she spoke.
“A lot of you don’t know the whole story about Rachel, and about the crime that was committed against her,” she said. “Even us, her family, we didn’t know all the details. They kept most of it close to their chest, the detectives, because they didn’t want to do anything to hurt the case…”
“I sat for the last two weeks in her trial, and we saw layer, upon layer, upon layer of evidence against the accused, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador,” the mother continued. “And the things that we thought, well, maybe this might have happened? We didn’t know, but when we were at the trial, we got all the puzzle pieces. And I want to share some of those things with you.”
Morin shared how her daughter was walking on that Maryland path when Martinez-Hernandez approached her. Her killer “waited for her to come closer,” Morin said. Realizing no one was around, he attacked her, then dragged her, “150 feet, blood gushing from her head,” leaving a trail of her blood in their wake, stopping to brutally batter her head with rocks on the trail, before throwing her against a wall and raping her.
Her mother continued, looking the reporters in the eye as she spoke.
Patty Morin, mother of Rachel Morin, speaks during a daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 16, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“When they did the autopsy … there was a six inch square in the back of her head where the skull is shattered the way that you would crush an egg shell, in pieces. Three fourths of her brain hemorrhaged. Her right and left side of her face bashed in. Her beautiful face bashed in. Her head bashed in. Broken bones, fractures.”
The murderer took Morin’s daughter into the tunnel, throwing her against the wall to rape her.
“He picks her up, he throws her against the wall. Blood is gushing from her head. Her hair is soaked in blood. They showed us pictures of her body, against the wall, the blood outlined her body, and you could see where the blood ran down around her as he was raping her. And then he threw her down and raped her some more. And then he strangled her, because he didn’t want her to be able to live to tell the story.”
The reporters in the room were still, most of them listening closely. Usually, the reporters are busy on their phones as Leavitt speaks, texting, emailing, preparing more questions, and shooting questions to their editors about her remarks. On Wednesday, most sat quietly, listening to Morin as she spoke.
“I don’t want my granddaughters to see these pictures,” she said emotionally. “These are the kind of criminals President Trump wants to remove from our country. These are the kind of criminals that we need to remove from our country. We are American citizens, why should we allow people like this, violent criminals that have no conscience at all, to murder our mothers, our sisters, our daughters.”
The most powerful moment, however, came as she left the room. Leavitt had offered reporters a chance to ask Morin questions, scanning the front row of legacy media reporters repeatedly. None raised their hands, though some new media reporters in the aisles, including The Daily Wire, had their hands raised.
Leavitt turned to leave, followed by Morin. But the angel mom was arrested by the voice of CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who, as recently as Monday, pushed President Trump on whether he would return illegal immigrant Garcia to the United States from El Salvador.
“Thank you,” Collins called out to the departing Morin, and her “thank you” was followed by a chorus of other White House press.
Morin paused and looked back at the crowded room full of reporters.
“Please tell the truth,” she pleaded to them. “Tell the truth. Tell how violent it really is.”
“It’s more than politics,” the bereaved mother said emotionally. “It’s about national security. It’s about protecting Americans. It’s about protecting our children.”
“Thank you,” she said, preparing to go. “Thank you for listening.”
As she disappeared behind the sliding door, the reporters at the front of the room could see Leavitt throw her arms around Morin and hug her tightly. Morin sounded emotional still, but happy. She had shared her daughter’s story with the media, looking into their eyes, and they had heard her.
The post <a href=https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-the-briefing-room-an-angel-mom-begs-white-house-media-to-tell-the-truth-about-illegal-crime target=_blank >Inside The Briefing Room, An Angel Mom Begs White House Media To ‘Tell The Truth’ About Illegal Crime</a> appeared first on Conservative Angle | Conservative Angle - Conservative News Clearing House
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