Trump Heads To LI 'Killing Fields' To Talk MS-13 'Animals'

LONG ISLAND, NY — President Donald Trump is slated to head to Long Island Wednesday to once again address the deadly MS-13 gang and its trail of death, brutality and destruction across the nation.

Trump is expected to speak at the Morrelly Homeland Security Center in Bethpage, according to Rep. Peter King.

Trump blasted the violent street gang, promising to rid gang-ravaged communities of Long Island of the "animals" on their streets during a visit to the island last year — and again, used the controversial term "animals" during a recent meeting with California officials on immigration, according to the New York Post.

“We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we’re stopping a lot of them — but we’re taking people out of the country. You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people. These are animals,” Trump said, when MS-13 was mentioned, according to the Post.

Sen. Chuck Schumer fired back on Twitter, saying, "When all of our great-great-grandparents came to America they weren't 'animals,' and these people aren't either."

The White House came out in defense of the comments: “I think that ‘animal’ doesn’t go far enough and I think the president should continue using his platform and everything he can do under the law to stop these types of horrible, horrible, disgusting people,” spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, according to the Post.

King, who said he's been working on Trump's visit to Long Island for about two weeks, said the President is expected to speak for about 90 minutes. "It's going to be an MS-13 focused panel discussion with people from local and federal law enforcement."

Those in attendance will talk about MS-13, "what can be done and what should be done," said King, a Republican from Seaford.

Since Trump first came to Long Island to address escalating MS-13 concerns in July, King said "there's been some real progress," including more arrests, the addition of two federal prosecutors, a $500 million grand for Suffolk County Police, and enhanced ICE and Homeland Security efforts.

"The president has made it a top priority," King said, also lauding the efforts of Suffolk and Nassau county police.

But, King said, the war rages on: "It's a long haul. As you lock up 10 of them, another eight show up. As large numbers are arrested or indicted, unfortunately, they're being replaced. But they'e not being replaced one for one, and that's the progress."

The gruesome discovery in a Central Islip park in April 2017 of four young men murdered by MS-13 members brought an international spotlight to Suffolk County, with elected officials and law enforcement vowing to fight back.

Last July, the president spoke in Brentwood, where two teen girls were brutally murdered by MS-13 members in 2016.

"They butchered those little girls," Trump said. "They kidnap. They extort. They rape and they rob. They prey on children. They shouldn't be here."

The president also said the gang had transformed Long Island's "peaceful parks and beautiful, quiet neighborhoods into blood-stained killing fields."

Related MS-13 coverage on Patch

• MS-13: An Inside Look At The Brutal Gang And Its Insidious Spread On Long Island
• Efforts To Eradicate MS-13 Amp Up, Gang Member Convicted: DA
• AG Jeff Sessions Warns Deadly MS-13: 'We Are Targeting You'
• 'We Are At War:' Dozens Of MS-13 Gang Members Arrested, Indicted

Patch file photos