eBay Seller Says Coins Depicting Haitian Migrant Border Incident Can Be Sold Again

A Utah man found himself in the middle of a controversy this week over a set of challenge coins he sold on eBay with a shocking image.

The coins depict the now-infamous real-life image of a Border Patrol agent chasing Haitian migrants along the US-Mexico border last September.

Unless he hears otherwise from authorities, the seller, Andy Christiansen, told NPR that he still has about 20 coins left and intends to put them up for sale again.

“It’s strictly business for me,” he told NPR by phone. And apparently he’s popular at it.

Once the eBay listing for this particular coin made its rounds, Christiansen said, at one point it was “flying off the shelf.” The interest was great enough to inflate the cost of a coin to nearly $500.

Although the coins are stamped with “U.S. Border Patrol. date the Border Patrol was established), agency leadership maintains that it is not an official Customs and Border Protection (CBP) currency.

“These coins make me angry because the hateful images they carry have no place in a professional law enforcement agency,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a statement to NPR. “Those who make or share these deeply offensive coins detract from and detract from the extraordinarily difficult and often life-saving work that Border Patrol agents do every day across the country.”

An agency spokesperson told NPR that the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating whether anyone at CBP is selling this coin.

The spokesperson added in a statement: “CBP’s Office of General Counsel (OCC) will also send a cease and desist letter to any vendor that produces unauthorized challenge coins using one of CBP’s trademarks.”

CBP had indicated this week that it was investigating the origin of the coins. So after those statements, Christiansen removed the post from eBay for the time being.

But as of Friday afternoon, he told NPR, he still hadn’t heard from any investigators. He is planning to resell the 20 or so coins he has left unless he hears from CBP or other authorities. A challenge coin is a type of small medallion that bears the insignia of an organization or group, and is usually carried by its members. Members of the military often have these coins.

Christiansen said that he is not the manufacturer of these coins; the person or company that ordered or manufactured these coins remains a mystery.

According to Christiansen, the packaging in which he received the coins after buying them at auction was transparent and had no markings or indications of the coins’ origin.

He runs a business in Utah that buys items at auction that were lost or damaged during shipping by FedEx or the U.S. Postal Service. That’s how he came into possession of the coins, mixed in a box with other challenge coins, Christiansen said. . He said that he did not know the meaning of what was represented on the coins.

Christiansen said he is still puzzled by the scene the coins depict.

“It’s not that I’m trying to be nonchalant. I’m not educated about that situation. And for me to say anything would be silly,” he said. He added that he has no political views on the matter in any way.

the backstory

The dramatic scene depicted on the coin took place last year when large numbers of migrants were attempting to cross the US-Mexico border.

At the time, thousands of migrants, including many Haitians, attempted to cross into the US from Mexico. That’s when Border Patrol agents used their horses to try to drive them back. Video of this particular crash captured an agent using the long reins of his horse to stop a man from entering the US, leading many to believe he was whipping him.

And in widely circulated photographs, now depicted on these particular challenge coins, an agent lunged from his saddle to grab a man by the shirt.

Following this incident, the Border Patrol said it launched an investigation and changed its policies regarding the use of horses at that Texas border crossing. The White House also strongly condemned the actions of these agents.

Since news of these coins hit the headlines, Christiansen has received comments both supportive and critical of his decision to sell them.

He read a comment he received that said, “Just wanted to say that all of us here in Phoenix, Arizona loved the CBP horseback challenge coin.” The person went on to say, “We wish we had bought one.”

He has also received some messages “scolding” him for putting them up for sale.

He was unfazed by those comments, saying, “Everyone is entitled to their opinion.”